WIN the GAME
by FuzzboyAlternative
Summary: 42 students, without warning, are abruptly abducted and dropped onto an island in the middle of nowhere. Once there, they are told there is only one way to leave...Be the last one standing of their class. Three days, a wide range of dangerous weaponry, and plenty of grudges. In the end though, that doesn't matter. All that does matter...Is who'll be the one to make it out alive?
1. Pre-Game

**Author's Note**

Hello, and welcome to my story. Sit back, grab something to drink, and relax, as I casually explain to you exactly what the fuck you just clicked on. Unless you skipped this.

This is **WIN** **the GAME**, a crossover story that blends the universe of _RWBY_, with the universe of _Battle Royale_...Not the video game genre, like...The actual movie. Even though they're the same thing- you get it. Basically, the premise of the original story was that a randomly selected class of over forty students was kidnapped by the government for their annual program, a game where the students are placed on an island and have to kill each other in order to survive. By the end of three days, if no winner is decided, everyone dies! It's pretty fucked up.

...This is why I thought it'd be fun to write a story where the cast of RWBY gets involved! I mean, why not right? The majority of the cast are already essentially child soldiers training with highly dangerous weaponry to become monster slayers. Not the worst group to put into this type of scenario in my eyes. However, keep in mind this takes place in an alternate universe more similar to Earth than the world shown in the show. Grimm, Faunus, and Auras aren't here. They're every bit as fragile as actual humans now. However, characters who have most of their personality engraved in these parts of the show (like say, Blake or Ilia) I'll try and do the best I can with what I got. Thanks for reading this...Now a warning!

_**Warning: **__This story will be featuring prominent violence, uncomfortable imagery, sexual themes, mild language, abusive backgrounds, and more. If you are uncomfortable with any of these things, I recommend you do not read this story. But with that said, if you're still around...Enjoy._

* * *

With a single twist of his key, the bus driver could feel his bus come roaring to life, as a smile formed on his face, only for it to disappear upon looking up at the sky above. The usual blue soon found itself covered by thick, grey clouds, as drops of rain fell to the earth below. Meanwhile, a tall and scraggly man with a huge, crazy hair filed his students inside the long white bus beside him. And at the back of the line of students, was a boy stood off to the side, scanning the bus with wary eyes.

Said boy wasn't an especially impressive sight by any means. Blonde hair, average looks, decently tall; basically your average teenager. Really the only thing notable about him was that he was actually surprisingly muscular, with well-toned arms and legs.

The boy was Jaune Arc (Male Student No. 3), and he...Didn't do well in tight spaces. Or vehicles. Or-

"Hey, Jaune!" He seemed to snap out of his thoughts at the voice, and upon turning around was quickly greeted with the presence of two girls.

The first girl, and the one who called him, was short and had shoulder-length raven hair, and more so resembled a middle schooler than her actual age. Meanwhile, beside her, the second girl was actually almost as tall as Jaune, with long golden hair, a pretty face, and considerable...To be honest he probably wouldn't finish that thought. They were Ruby Rose (Female Student No. 3) and her older sister, Yang Xiao Long (Female Student No. 4), some of Jaune's closest friends...Or at least Ruby was. He was pretty sure Yang tolerated him at best.

"Long time no see," Ruby added on, her smile shining bright despite her darkened surroundings, "aren't you excited for this trip?! Three whole days of no school, or responsibilities-"

"Or nagging parents," Yang quipped out with a small smirk.

Jaune however, wasn't really paying a lot of attention to them, having turned his attention back to the bus. "Yeah, yeah, it'll be great."

The sisters looked more than a little confused at his hollow response, with Ruby walking up to him and placing a hand on his shoulder. "Um...Jaune? Are you okay?" While he looked a bit confused at her question, it was pretty clear he wasn't paying a lot of attention still. "...Are you worried about getting sick again?"

"Uh-huh- wait, what?!" Jaune jumped back a bit, as if offended at the question, swiftly saying, "No! No, that's not the reason!"

"Oh, look out everyone," Yang called out, as she continued down the line without Ruby, "'Vomit Boy' is making a comeback!"

On cue, a chorus of both laughter and disgusted grimaces came from those still in line, as Jaune's face lit up a bright red. "It was one time…" Shaking away the embarrassment the best he could, he let out a low groan as he turned to Ruby, "But...No that's not it. It's just...Doesn't this feel a little weird to you?"

"Weird?" She asked, clearly not understanding what he meant.

"It's just, why would they suddenly announce a _free_ field-trip out of the blue only a month from finals, and _only_ invite a select group of people, with seemingly no correlating connection?" He asked, narrowing his eyes in suspicion. "It doesn't make a lot of sense…"

However, Ruby seemed to still not really understand, as she let out a sigh and pat his back, "Jaune, I think you're overreacting. It's probably just a treat from the teachers so we could have a bit of fun. It has been a bit of a rough year...Maybe they're trying to make it up to us?"

This only seemed to make the boy tenser, "Yeah, but-"

"Children!" The two turned their attention toward the end of the bus, where Yang was already getting on board, as the teacher screamed out, "Get on the bus! A storm is coming!"

They flinched a bit at his tone, though Jaune lingered for a moment as Ruby walked up to the door, but not before turning back with a soft smile, "Trust me, Jaune...Everything is gonna be alright."

The boy stared on in silence as she got onto the bus, eventually letting out a low sigh, as he followed a few moments later. "I hope you're right…"

* * *

For just a moment, Lie Ren (Male Student No. 12) could swear the fluorescent lights above had shaken out of place, hanging by whatever thread remained above. But to him, it was only expected. The school's budget, while high, had seemingly never been used to actually update what they had. They still had computers from the nineties in the lab, were still using chalkboards, and rarely fixed their malfunctioning lights. If it weren't for the school's reputation, it likely would have been shut down for repairs by this point.

But at this point, he had far more pressing concerns.

All around him, forty-one rowdy students were essentially doing whatever was physically possible on the bus, and at this point, he was positive they were louder than his actual thoughts. Whether it be the groups of jocks nearby, who were being spurred on by their captain, Sun Wukong (Male Student No. 10), or that Flynt Coal (Male Student No. 2) was playing his trumpet in the back, to even something minor like the gossip of the clique of popular girls close toward the front of the bus. Every conversation was being dug into his head like a tumor.

As far as he was aware, he and everyone else on the bus was on their way to a campground in northern Oregon. They'd stay there for three days, likely working on some sort of group project, or at least that'd be his best guess if Mister Oobleck came along...But he wasn't on the bus. Neither was Mister Port for that manner...Perhaps they're simply taking a different mode of transport.

Personally, he didn't really want to come on the trip. After getting the invite he was all but about to toss it aside, but his friend convinced him otherwise...Though admittedly he probably wouldn't trust her being out there without someone watching her back. She simply can get a bit…

"Ren! Ren, Ren, Ren, Ren, Ren! Look at this!" Within moments, Ren was having his cheek bombarded by a serious of pokes, each one pressing harder and harder, as he let out a groan to himself.

Sitting beside him was a short, though notably strong-looking girl, who looked more muscular than some of the guys in class. She was Nora Valkyrie (Female Student No. 12), his best friend since as far back as he can remember. Practically family...Or maybe-

"Ren, come on!" Nora grumbled out, latching onto his arm and practically pulling him by this point, "It's so _cooooooool!"_ She looked out the window, and as expected since it's...Well, a bus, it was long gone. She whimpered at this, before wailing out rather obnoxiously and throwing herself against the seat with folded arms, pouting to herself. "You're no fun."

"Sorry." Ren simply replied. "Perhaps you'll see something a bit better in a bit."

The girl continued to pout to herself, though seemed to look up a bit at his words. "...Maybe. But if I do, you're totally looking at it!" Ren smiled in response, before bringing up his book and going back to reading it.

Meanwhile, in the seat behind them, Jaune Arc was, similar to Nora, staring out the window. Something he had noticed for a bit now was that they had actually seen a town in a while. Right now they were just driving through a large number of rocky mountains, vast forests in all directions, along with a sizable amount of fog. It was...Disconcerning, to say the very least.

Beside him, was a beautiful girl with sparkling green eyes, and an appearance striking enough to resemble a celebrity more than a student. Her name was Pyrrha Nikos (Female Student No. 11), and she was probably Jaune's closest friend. She was a bit of a star student, with the grades and experience to get into basically any college she wanted, along with being the target of most of the guys' in class' affection.

And yet for the entire bus ride, instead of actually talking or striking up a conversation, here she was in the back just...Standing still and smiling contently, as if there was nothing else she'd rather be doing in the world. She had admittedly always done stuff like this, rarely really acting on how she was feeling and instead waiting for something to happen to her first. To Jaune, it sounded sorta miserable, to be honest, but he'd obviously never tell her that.

Usually, he'd probably say something, but admittedly right now there really wasn't anything he _could_ say. He was a bit too distracted with his own thoughts...The rest of the class certainly wasn't helping. And as soon as he thought that, he couldn't help but scan the rest of the bus.

Nearby was Ruby, who seemingly babbling incoherent nonsense to the person she was sitting with, who was…

_Weiss Schnee_ (Female Student No. 2)...The apple of his eye...Kind of. To be honest, he sorta...Barely knew her. She mostly kept to herself, and only really talks to Ruby when it's with anyone, and even then she seems to barely stand her presence at all. She was by every definition a loner, or as Yang has put it so many times, an 'ice queen'. Her pale blonde hair certainly helped the image, as it was so bright it could almost pass as being white.

Weiss was the youngest daughter of the Schnee family, which ran the well-known (and well-loathed) Schnee Company, which handled residential development, produce production, marketing...Basically everything to be honest. If it makes money, they have their hand in it somehow, and as such it's actually driven a lot of companies out of business, mostly local ones. As such, she wasn't especially popular among the rest of the school, but Jaune admittedly didn't care. It hadn't really affected him, so he had no real reason to.

But he couldn't lie...He was absolutely infatuated with her. How could he not be? She was pretty...A-And smart! Yeah, that too...And other things he'd probably learn about if they actually talked. Which he was working on! It was just gonna take the right moment is all.

A bit ahead of them was Yang, who was standing in the aisle chatting to a pair of girls; Blake Belladonna (Female Student No. 20) and Ilia Amitola (Female Student No. 13), the foreign exchange students, the former having shown up from from the Republic of Greater East Asia, while the latter had come from India. He knew close to nothing about them, but they didn't have the best reputation in the class, especially thanks to some pretty nasty rumors that were spread about them. Really, Yang was probably one of the only kids in class who actively spoke to them, which if Jaune had to guess why...It was probably the accents. She loved accents.

Meanwhile, up ahead in the front row was a small group of girls. In particular, some of the most popular ones in school; Nebula Violette (Female Student No. 19), and her three best friends, Dew Gayl (Female Student No. 1), Gwen Darcy (Female Student No. 9), and Octavia Ember (Female Student No. 14). All of them were absolutely stunning to look at, and nobody would bat an eye if they all became models after high school. Basically, whenever they entered a room, all eyes were on them.

The same could actually be said for the rowdy bunch behind them; the jocks! Sun Wukong, the star running back of the football team, and a party animal who basically everyone knew, and he was seemingly leading some sort of chant with the rest of his group; there was Neptune Vasilias (Male Student No. 19), his best friend and the quarterback, Sage Ayana (Male Student No. 8), a member of the basketball team, Scarlet David (Male Student No. 9), who played soccer, and lastly, Brawnz Ni (Male Student No. 21), who was the king of the wrestling team, and founder of the boxing club. They were the big men on campus...So yeah, obviously Jaune didn't talk to them either.

Across from them, Flynt Coal was playing on his trumpet along to their chanting, which only riled them up more. Next to him sat some of the coolest kids in class. Sitting next to him directly was Neon Katt (Female Student No. 18), who hosted just about every major party off-campus and had one of the dumbest names he had ever heard. And just behind him were Kobalt Leaf (Male Student No. 20), another jock who primarily played tennis, and Roy Stallion (Male Student No. 14), who was dancing in his seat along to Flynt's music, before getting up, as if getting ready to put on some kind of show in the middle of the bus.

And right behind them, was none other than Coco Adel (Female Student No. 15), who about a year ago, probably would have been sitting with them. But these days, she hung out with a different crowd; Fox Alistair (Male Student No. 17), Velvet Scarlatina (Female Student No. 6), and Yatsuhashi Daichi (Male Student No. 4), some of the biggest outcasts in school. Fox was blind, and always wearing thick, pitch-black glasses. Velvet was another exchange student, though from Spain, and arguably had an even worse reputation in the class. And Yatsuhashi...He was just scary.

Speaking of scary, that was probably the best word to describe the next group, made of Arslan Altan (Female Student No. 5), Bolin Hori (Male Student No. 6), and Nadir Shiko (Male Student No. 16). Jaune knew close to nothing about them, and neither did anyone else in the class. Nobody talked to them, and it wasn't because they were hated or anything...It was more than nobody wanted to piss them off. Both Arslan and Nadir have gotten into some pretty serious brawls that put kids in the _hospital_ before, while Bolin...He just had something off about him, and considering his company, most didn't wanna risk it.

But somehow, someone even more feared than them was none other than Cinder Fall (Female Student No. 17) and her group of delinquents, which was rounded out with Emerald Sustrai (Female Student No. 16) and Mercury Black (Male Student No. 5). The trio was widely hated and avoided by the sane students of the school, knowing full well just how dangerous they truly were. Mercury alone had started close to a dozen fights in the last year alone, and Cinder was a notorious hustler. Emerald, however, by comparison, actually didn't have a lot to be said about. She was actually remarkably well-behaved, which only further brought into question why exactly she hung around the two.

Another similarly despised group was a gang lead by Cardin Winchester (Male Student No. 11), who cruelly ordered around his subordinates made up of Russel Thrush (Male Student No. 7), Sky Lark (Male Student No. 13), and Dove Bronzewing (Male Student No. 1). The four regularly bullied and harassed basically anyone they could get their hands on...Which sadly, included Jaune.

He was Cardin's favorite punching bag in fact. Back in elementary school, the two actually got along pretty well. You could almost have called them friends. But at some point...Something just clicked in Cardin's head and he...Stopped really acting like that. Nowadays if he got a smile from him, it'd probably be one of pure sadism, thinking all sorts of horrible things he could do to Jaune that day. Sometimes Jaune would just straight up cut school if he just couldn't take it that day…

Luckily for him, even if it was quite selfish, he wasn't the gang's _only_ target. They also harassed the exchange students pretty often, and along with that, targeted the "geeks" of the class pretty regularly. Ciel Soleil (Female Student No. 8), Ivori Frame (Male Student No. 15), and Penny Polendina (Female Student No. 21) were all to some degree bullied or mocked by the gang, though unlike Jaune, they all seemed to have actual ways to avoid their wrath. Ciel seemed to get enough of a handle on her schedule to avoid direct confrontation with them usually, Ivori spent almost all his time in the computer lab so they had to go out of their way if they wanted to bother him, and Penny...For some reason, they just stopped bothering her, and would probably never explain why. Maybe it was embarrassing?

And rounding out the class were probably the three Jaune knew the least about; May Zedong (Female Student No. 10), Nolan Porfirio (Male Student No. 18), and Reese Chloris (Female Student No. 7). He wouldn't call them 'unmemorable' or anything, it was more that...He couldn't really relate to them. The former two had been dating for a long while, he knew that at least, and he'd usually see Reese on his way to school riding her skateboard, but otherwise...That was it. That was all he had on them. He almost felt bad about it to some degree.

As he finished scanning the bus, a single thought was left in his mind…

"_Why __**these**__ people?"_

Sure, most of them knew each other, but he couldn't really say there was much of a connection beyond that. They didn't all share the same class, or were studying the same subject, attended the same clubs, some weren't even in the same _grade_. This all felt...Random to a degree. As if they wanted to just grab a much of people that don't mix well and force them into the same environment-

"Why is the bus driver putting on a gas mask?"

Jaune's face paled at this question, as Pyrrha stood up from her seat, a confused and worried look on her face. As if on instinct, she started storming through the aisle of the bus, pushing people out of the way as she made her way through. Jaune soon followed after her, "Pyrrha, wait!"

However, she didn't listen, instead only picking up the speed, seemingly not noticing the hissing sound erupt through the cabin from the roof. Within moments, the entire bus had been filled with a cloud of thick smoke. But Pyrrha didn't care, instead, all she wanted was to figure out what...What was...What...W-What..._W-W-Whaaaaa-_

Without another word, the girl abruptly collapsed to the floor, as screams and panic suddenly sparked throughout the bus. Some like Octavia and Velvet simply began screaming in horror, while others like Brawnz and Arslan instead pounded on the windows with all their might in a desperate attempt to smash them open.

As they did so though, Jaune ran up the unconscious Pyrrha, picking her up in his arms. "Pyrrha! Pyrrha, wake up!" He let out a series of coughs as the smoke grew thicker, as the rest of his classmates began to collapse as well. "P-Pyrrha...Pyrrha...Pyrr…" And with that, Jaune collapsed as well, smashing his face against the hard metal floor.

* * *

The bus driver whistled to himself as he casually drove along a hidden road through the woods, barely paying the unconscious students in the bus any mind. If everything was on schedule, he'd be at the pier in about...An hour, give or take. After that, his job was done, he'd get that nice, big check, and he could be home on time to watch the game with his boyfriend.

Life was good.

After a moment, he picked up the radio off the dashboard, before saying into it, "The kids are good and ready for extraction."

_"Delightful to hear, Atar. Would you say they're the right bunch for our little game?"_ The man took a moment to look back at the class, and soon after, a smirk appeared.

"Trust me, boss...These kids are gonna tear each other apart."

* * *

**Third/Fourth Year Classes A/B/C/D, Beacon Junior High School Student List**

_**Males**_

_#1. Dove Bronzewing_

_#2. Flynt Coal_

_#3. Jaune Arc_

_#4. Yatsuhashi Daichi_

_#5. Mercury Black_

_#6. Bolin Hori_

_#7. Russel Thrush_

_#8. Sage Ayana_

_#9. Scarlet David_

_#10. Sun Wukong_

_#11. Cardin Winchester_

_#12. Lie Ren_

_#13. Sky Lark_

_#14. Roy Stallion_

_#15. Ivori Frame_

_#16. Nadir Shiko_

_#17. Fox Alistair_

_#18. Nolan Porfirio_

_#19. Neptune Vasilias_

_#20. Kobalt Leaf_

_#21. Brawnz Ni_

_**Females**_

_#1. Dew Gayl_

_#2. Weiss Schnee_

_#3. Ruby Rose_

_#4. Yang Xiao Long_

_#5. Arslan Altan_

_#6. Velvet Scarlatina_

_#7. Reese Chloris_

_#8. Ciel Soleil_

_#9. Gwen Darcy_

_#10. May Zedong_

_#11. Pyrrha Nikos_

_#12. Nora Valkyrie_

_#13. Ilia Amitola_

_#14. Octavia Ember_

_#15. Coco Adel_

_#16. Emerald Sustrai_

_#17. Cinder Fall_

_#18. Neon Katt_

_#19. Nebula Violette_

_#20. Blake Belladonna_

_#21. Penny Polendina_

* * *

**PRE-GAME**

**42 Students Remaining**


	2. Hello, Mister Torchwick

"_...I...I-I see trees of green, red roses too~"_

Moments after the music began to play overhead, the eyes of Nolan Porfirio (Male Student No. 18) slowly flickered open with a groan. He rubbed the side of his head with an open palm while pushing himself up from whatever wood he had been laying his face on. After a moment, he chuckled to himself absentmindedly at the sounds of rain. He must have fallen asleep on the bus.

Blinking rapidly, his glazed eyes slowly began to form a clear image of what was in front of him. And as soon as he could make it out, he couldn't help but do a double-take.

He was...In a classroom. An old one at that. The walls were chipped and cracked, and the window along the left wall was actually covered by a series of thin, metal trays on the outside, making the rain that pattered against it sound more like hail against a trashcan than anything. And the chalkboard at the front of the room had clearly not aged well, having faded and gotten scratched up with time. In fact, it seemed the only thing in the room that didn't look at least a few decades old was the metal door at the front of the class, and the desk he was sitting at...Along with the rest of the class.

As he looked over the room, his eyes slowly widened at the sight before him; the entire class going on the field trip, each of them seated at their own desk pointed toward the front of the room. From what he could tell, he was close to the back of the room, with only one desk behind him, which sat a sleeping and drooling Russel Thrush (Male Student No. 7). Meanwhile, sitting in the seat to his right was none other than Mercury Black (Male Student No. 5), who seemed to have been awake for quite a while now, as he was currently staring down the front of the classroom as if expecting something to happen.

For a moment, Nolan almost considered asking what was going on, but quickly cast that thought aside. Even if he wanted to know, no way was he asking Mercury of all people. This was the same guy who busted a kid's nose for correcting him during a math quiz. The last thing he wanted to do was piss the guy off.

Instead, Nolan continued to look around for a moment, before his eyes settled on a tan girl, with hair comparable to a pale crimson. "May...May!" With a jump, he threw himself up from his seat and ran over to May Zedong (Female Student No. 10), his girlfriend of just over three-years, as he began to shake her arm, "May, May!"

After a moment, the girl began to stir with a grumble, mumbling, "C-Come on, Nolan, just a few...F-Few more minutes." He couldn't help but roll his eyes at her words, as he continued to shake her.

"Don't bother doing that, just let the girl sleep," he rose a brow at the voice, looking to the side, where none other than Coco Adel (Female Student No. 15) was sitting, her legs up on the desk as she nonchalantly sat in boredom, "even if she knew where we were, wouldn't change that we're stuck here, hon."

"Stuck here?" Nolan asked, a confused look set firmly on his place, which hadn't really gone away since he woke up in the first place.

As he asked this though, a scream echoed throughout the classroom, as a voice called out, "Outta my way!"

Running at the doorway, none other than Brawnz Ni (Male Student No. 21) was running at the door, having picked up his desk like it was a battle axe, as he rose it high with a toothy grin. He smashed it down against the door...And instantly, it bounced right off the door, in the process smashing against the boy's face and throwing him to the floor. He screamed out in pain, covering his face moments later as he twitched and cringed on the floor.

Within a few moments, the rest of the class had found themselves awake, and similar to Brawnz, were practically tearing the classroom apart to find a way out. The door? Didn't react to anything you throw at it. Windows? Locked shut and seemingly even stronger than the door. Other exits? None in sight.

There was no way out. And soon, screams echoed throughout the class, questions getting spewed out at rapid speeds.

"Where the Hell are we?!"

"Is this a prank?"

"Where the fuck is my wallet?! Did someone take my shit?!"

"Wait...What are these collars?"

And this last question seemed to catch everyone's attention. The class turned toward who had asked the question, Reese Chloris (Female Student No. 7), one of Nolan's closest friends, and a bit of a weird sight thanks to her dyed blue hair. And just as she had said, around her neck was some kind of weird, metal collar, with a single red light in the center of it.

She fiddled with it for a second, a confused look on her face, and after a moment, was about to pull on it-

"_I'd recommend not doing that, little lady."_

The classroom froze at the voice, turning back to the door, which to their shock had just been opened, with a man walking through into the room. He was a ginger man, with rough pale skin and bright orange hair, along with what appeared to be greying eyes. He wore an all-white business suit and was walking with a cane, and just behind him, two large, imposing men wearing full-body armor followed, a large machine gun tucked up both their arms.

After a moment, the three came to a stop at the front of the room, the ginger giving the class a wide smile as he opened up his arms, "Glad to see you've all awaken. It certainly makes my job a bit easier." Nobody in class responded to this, as he cleared his voice, "Anyways...I am Mister Torchwick, and I'm happy to say that for I'll be your teacher for this evening."

Nolan could swear, he saw the man's smile morph into a grin upon noticing the confusion on all their ways. "So, how about giving me a _proper_ greeting. Say _'hello, Mister Torchwick'_!" He paused as if genuinely expecting a response...Only to get nothing in return. "Well...That simply won't do. That won't do at all. How can I be expected to teach a class if they lack even _basic_ manners? So, let's try this again…" His eyes narrowed into a dismissive, condescending look, "Say..._Hello, Mister Torchwick…"_

After a moment of the class exchanging looks and the like, they eventually mumbled out an uncertain, "Hello, Mister Torchwick." Nolan found himself also saying it, if a bit more delayed-

"Nolan?" He paled at the voice, looking down and seeing that a certain girl had finally risen from the desk, her beanie covering a majority of her drowsy looking face. "What's going on?"

"Ah, splendid!" The man, now identified as Torchwick exclaimed, "This girl is _way_ ahead of the rest of you, she's already taken her seat!" He then mumbled, "Don't appreciate the talking, but hey, beggars can't be choosers." Letting out a laugh, he then said, "Anyways, everyone back to your seats now," he looked down at the mostly shattered desk of Brawnz Ni, before giving the boy a patronizing smirk, "or at least, back to whatever's left of them."

Brawnz let out a vocal growl at this, though quickly shut up and took a seat in his open chair, not even bothering with the desk. Meanwhile, the rest of the class did exactly as Torchwick said, each going back to their desk. Nolan lingered for a moment going back to his, exchanging glances with the still confused May Zedong, though after giving her a nod, went back to his own desk without much of a fight.

"Great to see such a respectful bunch of students," Torchwick cheered, though Nolan could swear his voice was laced with contempt and distaste, "certainly _much_ better than our first batch." He then pointed to someone in the crowd, "She knows what I'm talking about, I'm betting."

Nolan instinctively followed his finger, turning attention to where it was aimed…

Pyrrha Nikos (Female Student No. 11). Pretty sure she only moved here like...Two-years ago? In that time though, she had made quite the impression, becoming class president that year, and prior to that signing up for just about every major club she could, from fencing to art to even theatre production, and while he would never admit it, especially in front of May...He couldn't lie, she was a hottie. Honestly, Nolan had no idea how she managed to have _any_ free time at all if he was being honest.

Though he couldn't really explain why she was being used as an example. Or more importantly...Why she was so stone-faced and pale, barely reacting to anything happening around her. He couldn't lie...It was kinda scary to look at.

"Anyways," Torchwick muttered, moving on from the subject and turning toward the chalkboard, "let's get a move on with this."

Picking up a piece of chalk, he began to scribble out some kind of logo on the board. He...Couldn't exactly _tell_ what it was at first, though eventually, he began to realize he was simply writing something out, albeit with pretty messy handwriting. Moments later, he placed the chalk down, and moved to the side, revealing what he had written.

The BR Act.

"I don't expect many of you know what this is just yet," Torchwick promptly said, scratching the top of his boredly, "after all it's only our second attempt at it and it hasn't been made public just yet. Think of it as you guys being our lab rats. But just so you know, it stands for 'Battle Royale', or my preferred name for it...The Program."

Nolan could make out in the corner of his vision Pyrrha flinching and lowering her head, as Torchwick continued, "Last time we held it was...Two-and-a-half years ago, maybe?" He shivered, "It was a _disaster_. We made so many mistakes; too many guns, no time incentive, a _lot_ of starving to death, and don't even get me started on all those pointless peace protests we couldn't do _anything_ about without sending in guards, which interrupted the flow of the _damned game!"_

"It was awful is my point here," he simply stated, "which is why we took some time to refine the whole process a bit before we tried again. We sent the winner home with a new identity and some money, forced her to write an NDA with threat of things I can't state out loud, blah blah blah."

"Wait, hold up dude, what?"

Torchwick turned his attention toward the person who spoke up, which just so happened to be Roy Stallion (Male Student No. 14). One of the more popular kids in the class to Nolan's knowledge. Basically every day at lunch the guy would be hanging with his friends or dancing in the middle of a crowd. He was pretty cool, and while Nolan wasn't especially close to him, he at least considered him someone to talk to.

"What do you mean?" Torchwick hissed out, seemingly already fed up with the interference.

"W-Well...What do you mean by guns?" Roy asked, his voice far quieter than you were used to. "And people starved last time?! Where are we?! Why are we _here?!_ We didn't get a choice in this, man! I just wanted to go on a field trip!"

A few resounding voices seemed to agree with Roy, as Torchwick let out a groan and rubbed the temple of his head. "I would have _explained_ that...Had you not decided to _interrupt me!"_ Roy flinched at this, as the man growled out a stern, "Now sit down, please, so I can get this over with and we can wrap this up as soon as possible."

After a moment, Roy reluctantly did as he said, sitting down in his seat with wide eyes, as he clasped his hands over his head. Poor guy...Clearly wasn't taking this all that well if he had to guess. Honestly, Nolan himself wasn't even all that sure why _he_ wasn't freaking out...Maybe it's just that, at the very least, he had May here. Meanwhile, he couldn't really see anyone Roy usually hung out with in class, besides maybe Flynt Coal (Male Student No. 2), and he was pretty sure that was more an association of status than the two actually being friends.

"Anyways...To explain," Torchwick continued, "to shut you all up and make sure I don't get interrupted again, I'll make this as clear as physically possible...The forty-two of you will soon be released from this room." He then gave them a bright smile, his teeth practically shining from the lights in the room. "And then...You will kill each other until only _one_ of you is left standing."

And just like that...Silence. Everyone in class became as stiff as a statue and as pale as ghosts, as they just...Stared on in silence. Nobody dared to move, or speak up, or...Anything really. It was as if all of them had died on the spot…Until Roy threw himself out of his seat and started _screaming_ his head off-

As he did so, a loud, booming crackle fired through the air, practically deafening to a degree. Roy shivered in place, his face wide in horrified fear, and just a few inches from where he was standing, a bullet had entered the wall. And as soon as it had begun, the screaming was gone, and anyone else was about to have begun shut their mouths just as fast.

"_That_ was a warning shot," Torchwick bellowed, a smoking luger pistol in his hands, "now sit down and _shut up!_ I prefer to not hinder the experiment by killing one of you myself...At least, _not again_." This last part seemed to shake Roy to his very core, and without a fight sat down into his seat. "...Now...Any _actual_ questions? And _please_ don't scream them out, I already have a headache."

"...Why us?"

The entire room turned to Nolan in silence, as he blinked in complete confusion as to _why_ he just said that. Though after a moment, he cleared his throat and stood up a bit. "Why us? Just...Why are we here?"

Unlike with Roy, Torchwick didn't seem to mind Nolan's words, as he let out a sigh and lowered his gun. "It was random selection, simple as that. Your school just got unlucky...And on why _you_ forty or so kids were chosen?" He snickered a bit, before shrugging, "If I had to guess...They probably thought you'd be the most amusing group." The class as a whole seemed to deflate at this. "That's just how the cookie crumbles. Any more questions?"

Nolan sat back down in his seat with a lowered head, scanning the room for a moment, before eventually, he saw none other than _Weiss Schnee_ (Female Student No. 2), the rich bitch of Beacon, stand up, "W-What about our parents? Or our teachers! There's no way they would have allowed this, and they'll come looking for us!"

"That's correct, Miss Schnee," Torchwick replied without even thinking, "most of your parents and especially your teachers Oobleck and Port were against this game...But we're the _government!"_ These words alone struck fear in the class, _"We_ have power over whether this happens or not. It doesn't matter how many people didn't want this to happen if they were too much of a thorn in our side, we simply silenced them, just like we did last time."

Weiss' face paled even more than her usual complexion. "So...You're saying-"

"It doesn't matter _who_ you are, because _we_ have far more power," Torchwick gave her a bright smile, "sorry to say hon, but the second your school got chosen, you were screwed regardless. At least your teachers were smart enough to shut up when we took all of you, even if they were thorns in our sides all the way up until that point. Anything else?"

"Yes."

Torchwick turned toward the last student...Who oddly, had spoken calmly and respectfully. They were a dark-skinned girl, with neatly combed hair, and blank eyes. Ciel Soleil (Female Student No. 8)...To be honest, Nolan couldn't name a single time where he had actually seen her smile or really much of any emotion. He could still remember the nickname Sky Lark (Male Student No. 13) spread around for her. "Robot Girl".

"What is the point of the experiment?" Ciel simply asked.

Torchwick stared at her for a few minutes...Before shrugging. "Eh, I don't know," the class seemed confused at this, "I'm not the guy who came up with the idea. I'm the guy who handles the job. I don't give a flying fuck about the why as long as I'm getting the big bucks, and _let me tell you_, this job pays _well_."

With a laugh, he looked around the room. "Now, does _anyone else_ have any more bullshit they want to spew at me that I can promptly shut down?" No response. "...Okay, good. Now, time to move on to far more important manners beyond the rest of your petty responses…" He smashed his cane down against the ground, "Neo!"

In an instant, the door was kicked open again, and within seconds, a short girl and close to over a dozen armed men walked inside the room, the men in particular wheeling in large carts filled to the brim with camouflaged duffel bags. The short girl however was...A weird sight. Her eyes were both different colors, her fashion style was more comparable to a French model than a government worker, and honestly, she was shorter than basically everyone else in the class by quite a lot.

After a minute, the people stopped coming in, though the last group actually rolled in a large, flatscreen television, which they placed just to the left of the teacher. Soon after, Torchwick turned to the girl with a surprisingly genuine smile. "Thank you, Neo." The girl simply smiled back in response. "Now...Time to explain how this game works!" He pulled out a remote from his jacket, and clicked on of the buttons.

Instantly, the TV lit up and projected what appeared to be a large, 3D image of an island. "You're here, located roughly fifty miles off the coast of Puerto Rico. The island itself is about ten miles long in both width and height, so there's plenty of room to run around in without giving us extended periods of no encounters."

He then pointed to the TV as the island suddenly got divided up into sections. "The area has been divided into roughly just over a hundred different zones, each designated by a letter between 'A' and 'J', and then followed by a number between '1' and '10'. The zone we are currently in is G7. The main purpose of this is to make it a bit easier for navigation's sake...And also because of a little system we have in place."

He gestured toward the class, "As you've noticed, each of you has a collar around your neck," the kids appropriately touched the collars at this, "they have two purposes. One is to keep you all in check...And the other is to keep you all moving." Moments later, he snapped his fingers, and one of the armed men handed him a thick, black metal collar, similar to the ones around all their necks.

"In a way...They're life insurance. You see, once you've all left the school, it officially becomes 'no man's land'. Every six hours, I will report to all of you _who_ has died, and the more important thing...Where other 'no man's land' will be popping up, and when. Walk into any of these areas after they've been assigned as such," he placed the collar on the desk behind him, and pointed the remote at it, "_this_ happens."

Torchwick pressed down on the button...And the collar began to beep. And after just ten beeps, it _exploded_. Now, it wasn't a very big explosion from what Nolan saw, but he could tell it was certainly big enough to be about half as effective as a grenade. And soon...His mind wandered to places. Specifically, ones where he imagined what would happen if that went off around his throat.

"Rest assured, we can and _will_ trigger these at any time you're somewhere you shouldn't, or you start doing something we _really_ don't like...So don't bother escaping. It'll only get you killed." He seemed to sneer a bit at this last one. "Nobody likes a boring death, especially not my supervisors. And speaking of, just to add incentive, I should say this..." He narrowed his eyes, "If no deaths occur across twenty-four straight hours..._All_ your collars _will_ be detonated. So _stay active!"_

The class by this point was more in a trance than anything else, just...Listening, and hoping the situation would somehow get better for them. But Nolan more than got the point...They _had_ to play the game.

"And on that note, they're both water _and_ shock-proof, so while some of you may have thought about it, trust me, it's not a good idea to try it, cause we'll know," Torchwick explained, "but now, let's get away from the collars a moment. How _exactly_ are you going to kill each other? Well...We have an answer for that."

He snapped his fingers again, and one of the bags, this one comparatively paler, was dropped onto the desk. "Each of you will be given a bag before you leave. All of them hold pretty similar items; about half a dozen water bottles, nine MREs of differing flavors, a compass, a map of the island, a black pen, a wristwatch fit for all sizes, bandages and disinfectant, a flashlight, and anything you brought in your backpacks on the way over. And of course...Your weapon!"

With a loud, dramatic laugh, he gave the class a smile as he pulled something out of the backpack..._A fucking rocket launcher_.

Hefting it onto his shoulder, Torchwick than explained, "Sure, none of you will get something like _this_, but my point here is instead a pretty simple one; each of you has been given a _randomly_ assigned weapon! These can range in usefulness, anywhere between your standard handgun, to a sword, to a fork, they're all over the place. So some of you will get lucky, others won't, and boohoo for them!"

With a laugh, he slammed down the rocket launcher onto the desk, visibly making everyone in the room flinch, including the armed men, with the exception of the girl named Neo. "Well...I think that's about everything important, right?" He turned to the armed men, who simply shrugged in response. "I'll take that as a yes, so, no reason to delay this game any further I say-"

He paused for a moment, before facepalming, "Oh, of course...I forgot to mention...There _is_ a time limit for this game." Torchwick turned to the class, before holding up three fingers. "Three days...You have _three days_ to win. Seventy-two full hours...If a winner is not decided by then, you will all die. No survivors, and a failed experiment...I'd call that a lose-lose scenario for _everyone_ involved...Okay, time to get this show on the road!"

And just like that, the class of Beacon High just...Stared on in silence, their minds in endless thought as they realized the situation before them. Nolan rubbed the palm of his head with a heavy breath...As he went over the details in his head again…

Seventy-two hours...Forty-two students...One survivor...

Like it or not...Nolan was gonna be fighting for his right to live.


	3. Let the Games Begin

**Author's Note**

**Hour 00 (11:59 PM)**

**Danger Zones:** N/A.

**Student(s) Remaining:** 42.

* * *

For the class of Beacon High, the reactions to their current dilemma were more or less predictable. Some were pissed off, only fighting off the urge to jump Torchwick thanks to their basic survival instinct. Others were silently panicking in their seat. And perhaps there were even some holding on to whatever hope they had left.

However, nobody would expect how Dove Bronzewing (Male Student No. 1) was reacting to the whole situation; calmly. In fact, the entire time he hadn't even flinched from the concepts being given to him. Instead, he seemed to just be absorbing the whole thing, stone-faced and uncaring, as if he had already accepted what he was being told; be the last man standing.

Of course, it was hard to really understand anything about Dove. Simply put he was a strange boy, always had been. Athletic, intelligent, an ace student, jack of all trades yet a master of all of them; practically the perfect human being in all but one way; emotion. Or more accurately, how he seemed to lack it. It was rare to see Dove say anything, and it was even rarer for him to actually mean anything behind it. It was as if he simply went along with whatever was happening, never bothering to question things or figure out a situation first. As if he wasn't even alive…

Thus, it wasn't very hard for him to fall into a bad group; particularly Cardin Winchester's (Male Student No. 11) little gang of hoodlums, which were rounded out by Russel Thrush (Male Student No. 7) and Sky Lark (Male Studnet No. 13). In every way, Dove didn't fit in with them, outside of maybe general athleticism. They were punks; ruffians who didn't care who they would have to hurt to get what they wanted, and often what they wanted to do was to simply terrorize and harass the rest of the students of Beacon High, or at least the ones they could get away with.

And yet, every day, Dove simply hung around them like a fly on the wall, and nobody questioned it anymore. He didn't even particularly take part in their antics, he just was...There, though often his mere presence seemed to ramp up their intimidation factor. He was a constant, horrifying pain in the side of all who opposed to likes of Cardin Winchester, all without doing a thing.

But at the moment, Dove was focusing on none other than Mister Torchwick, who with a smile, proudly said, "Now, roughly every minute, I'll be releasing one of you out into those wilds, meaning you better be fast if you want to get away from all the early action. Oh, and be sure to not forget your bag. It'll basically be the only way you'll survive the _night_, let alone the game!"

None of the class responded to this, as Torchwick pulled an envelope out of his pocket. Tearing it open, he pulled out a paper and looked it over, while one of the armed men opened up the door, and the other one grabbed a bag off the rack beside him. "First up...Boy number one, Dove Bronzewing!"

And thus, in a single movement and without hesitation, Dove stood up from his seat and promptly ran toward the door, not even having to react as the man threw a bag at him, which he caught in a single movement. Within seconds of his name getting called, he was already running down a long corridor, aligned with guards on both sides, before running right out of the building.

Running into the open just outside the building, he was met with a small, almost scenic area. A simple gravel path leading to two diverging ones into the forest, with a large green hill between them. On all sides of the building were miles and miles of thick jungle, vines and weeds all around them, and above, rain from the storm began to pour down, smashing into the ground with force comparable to hail.

However, despite this, Dove took no time to run off into the forest, away from the paths given. He now had a goal in mind for this game, one he'd follow without mercy; survive at _all_ costs.

* * *

"Girl number one, Dew Gayl!"

Jaune Arc (Male Student No. 3) watched as Dew Gayl (Female Student No. 1) stood up from her seat with her usual apathetic look, and calmly walked over to the men. She was probably one of the most athletic girls in the class, so he had no doubt that she'd be fine out in the game, but with Dove out and on the run...He couldn't lie that she wouldn't be surprised if she learned of her-

Wait, what was he thinking, that wasn't going to happen! Nobody in this class would _actually_ kill each other...Right?

Sure, Jaune had to admit there were more than a few bad eggs, but none of them were bad enough to actually try and _kill_ someone he'd think...Though maybe that was just wishful thinking. He couldn't deny that it wouldn't be especially difficult for him to imagine the likes of Mercury Black (Male Student No. 5) strangling the life out of someone...Or anyone in Cardin Winchester's gang…

Oh God, Cardin...That was one person Jaune _desperately_ wanted to make sure he _avoided_ encountering out in the game. He was already a pretty big jerk to him and his friends, and that was without a real reason for violence. He couldn't imagine how things would go now that he _had_ a reason to stir trouble.

"Boy number two, Flynt Coal!"

But that wasn't the worst part for Jaune...It was just the tension. The horrible atmosphere, his scared classmates, the fact that some of them probably were gonna get _guns?!_ It...It was a lot to take in. He had no idea how the rest of his class was going to react to this mess. How did he even know they'd all act the same out there either? Fear and anger can change a person with little effort...Would friends kill each other? Would some of them take this chance to hurt those they despise? Or perhaps even use it as an outlet for their pent-up urges-

"Girl number two, Weiss Schnee!"

And just like that, Jaune's whole world seemed to freeze.

Walking up to the front of the room with shaking legs, Weiss Schnee (Female Student No. 2) attempted to give off confidence in every movement; she had a straight posture, a calm look on her face, and above all else, especially when compared to the rest of the class, was a shining, bright example of beauty, practically untouched from the horrors of this brand new world…

But every aspect she attempted to portray, was betrayed by her own fear. The posture was ultimately stilted, and the way she walked was more comparable to a toddler than anything proper, like she was attempting. Her pale complexion and running mascara only showed how underprepared she truly was. And her beauty seemed to come undone, as she nearly collapsed as her bag was thrown at her.

If that was him, Jaune would have already been out of there, unwilling to show his face...And yet she stopped, just before the door, to look back at the class. From what he could see, her eyes were on Ruby Rose (Female Student No. 3)...Maybe. It was hard to tell from his seat honestly. But after a moment, she seemed to scan the room...And her eyes landed squarely on him.

The two just stared at each other for what felt like minutes, when truly it could have been no more than a few seconds. As they did so though, Jaune did the only thing he could think to do...Smile. A small, genuine one, and for a moment, Weiss seemed to forget her worries, as she let out a breath. And without another word, she ran down the hallway and out of sight.

* * *

Velvet Scarlatina (Female Student No. 6) couldn't be called many things, but there was one, simple way of describing her that everyone could agree on; she was a nervous wreck.

Back at Beacon High, Velvet was the photographer for the newspaper. A good job to be sure, and it helped her interact with a lot of people. In fact, she had probably met or at least spoken to everybody in this class. But in every interaction, she'd somehow find a way to screw it up. Maybe she'd stumble on her words too much. Or make them angry by taking the picture at the wrong time. Sometimes she'd just say nothing at all, and for a few of them, that'd be the worst decision in the world…

Her status as an immigrant didn't really help matters. Immigrants, whether people would admit it or not, stand out like a sore thumb in high school. Basically everyone can tell, and the sad truth is this; if you stand out in high school, it makes you a target. And the worst part? She was from _Spain_. Because clearly, her family moving here _now_, when the complications between the English and Spanish are at some of their worst in recent years was a great idea…

And now here she was, at a school, in the middle of nowhere, just watching as she saw Jaune Arc run out of the classroom, tripping over himself on his way since he was in too much of a hurry. Having to prepare herself for the inevitable fact that her classmates were gonna _kill_ each other. Or the fact that her friends might kill _her_...Or the possibility that she could…

She quickly shook away these thoughts, looking up just in time to see two people exit. The first was Ruby Rose. Velvet didn't know her too well these days, but back in middle school, they were actually pretty good friends. Though Ruby was friends with almost everyone so that probably didn't mean as much to her. And the second was...

Yatsuhashi Daichi (Male Student No. 4)...

The biggest, strongest, most imposing guy in class who nobody wanted to mess with. None of the gangs even went near the guy, because in an actual fight, he'd destroy them. He could probably even _throw_ them, like a baseball. In fact, Velvet's _seen_ him do it before to a small, pesky freshman who was messing with her.

He was one of her closest friends...Actually he was one of her _only_ friends. And yet here she was, watching as he slowly stood up from his seat, and with each loud clomp toward the door, walked away into the night, no idea of if she'd ever see him again…

Or her family...Or her little rabbit named Chem...Or...Or…

And there, and then...Velvet Scarlatina went silent. She was practically broken in that moment. Unmoving, unfeeling, just shaken to her very core. In the process, she barely even processed how some of the kids left soon after.

Yang Xiao Long (Female Student No. 4), Ruby's sister who was out of there quicker and angrier than anyone before her. Mercury Black (Male Student No. 5), who wasn't much more than a violent mook. Arslan Altan (Female Student No. 5), who was probably more muscular and aggressive than most of the guys in class. Bolin Hori (Male Student No. 6), a quiet kid who she had never spoken to. And-

"Girl number six, Velvet Scarlatina!"

* * *

Pyrrha Nikos (Female Student No. 11)...Perfect student. Class president. Member of the Fencing, Boxing, Wrestling, Softball, and Tennis teams. A part of a majority of the clubs in school. She was who girls were compared to by their mothers. She was the 'prize' every guy desperately wanted to get their hands on. A girl who had lived a full life just by the age of seventeen. A survivor of horrors far too similar to this...

Every exit had her silently analyzing her competition as if they were no more than chess pieces on a board, a very concept Pyrrha found disgusting, and yet couldn't stop herself from doing. It was practical. Safe. Something she needed to do if she wanted to get out of there. If she wanted to-

No...No she couldn't do that...She shouldn't. Not to them.

But regardless, she watched on, as each student left one by one.

Russel Thrush and Reese Chloris (Male/Female Student No. 7) were next to leave after Velvet, who she was positive had start crying on her way out the door. Russel did nothing of the sort. In fact, he was annoyingly arrogant, strutting up to the door, taking his bag and walking off with a hum. Luckily, Reese was more respectful, simply grabbing her bag and getting out of there as fast as possible. Pyrrha couldn't lie, she didn't have the highest of hopes for her, but if she could do anything, it was probably getting away from the action before it got too intense.

Next were Sage Ayana and Ciel Soleil (Male/Female Student No. 8). Pyrrha had never seen Sage without Scarlet David (Male Student No. 9) by his side. They were practically inseparable. But at the same time, she didn't need to worry about him. He was a close second to Yatsuhashi Daichi in terms of size and strength. He'd be fine. The same goes for Ciel actually. While she wasn't strong, she had an incredible mind. Pyrrha had no doubts the two would adapt fast to the game.

Scarlet followed a bit after. He was a bit shrimpy and a pretty boy, but reasonably athletic and charismatic enough that she'd say he could get away from most choice encounters. The same went for Gwen Darcy (Female Student No. 9), who left about two minutes afterward.

Sun Wukong (Male Student No. 10) left a bit afterward. If Pyrrha could say anything about him, it was that he was far smarter than he let on. If anything, he could have an advantage thanks to being underestimated. Then May Zedong (Female Student No. 10) left and Pyrrha could safely say that unlike Sun, it was perfectly _reasonable_ to underestimate her. Most of the time she was stoned out of her mind, and when she wasn't she was hanging out with Nolan, who she could just as easily see getting high relatively early, especially cause she doubted that they just _didn't_ take something with them.

And then came the exit of Cardin Winchester.

There were few men in Pyrrha's life that she loathed as much as Cardin. Every day, she saw the thug harassing some of her closest friends on campus, for seemingly little reason more than just for the kicks of it. He was a sadistic bastard of a man, one who walked into the depths of Hell with his cronies not far behind. And something told her he had no plans of easing up now that he had no reason to hold back, especially if he found his favorite punching bag...

Which is why she was so glad to hear her game next. In the span of the next ten seconds, she was in and out of the building, thrust into the pouring rain. Leaning against the side of it, she reached into her bag and pulled out two things; her map, and her flashlight, as she looked the thing over for just a moment. At the moment, she had only one goal in mind, one that she refused to allow to fail…

Find Jaune Arc...And protect him till the moment she dies.

* * *

Among the class, there were few who were less known than the likes of Ivori Frame (Male Student No. 15). And in his eyes, this was _nothing_ but an upside. When you were popular, you may have had many friends, but just as many potentially loathed you for the same reasons. If you were hated, good luck doing much of anything without a crowd making to burn you at the stake for your sins.

If you were unknown...Than nobody cared about your existence. And in a game where everyone was supposed to kill each other, this couldn't have been _more_ of a benefit. Nobody was gonna spending the game hunting him down over a petty grudge, and with how quiet he was it was unlikely that most would even be able to find him unless he _allowed _them to.

So to say Ivori was confident about his chances was...A bit of an understatement. Sure, he didn't have plans to actually _play_ the game, but it was a nice advantage at least. He'd probably find a place to hide early on and meet up with Kobalt Leaf (Male Student No. 20), then just let him handle most of the dirty work. He was pretty reasonably athletic with a killer backhand, so he just had to find him a nice melee weapon or even just a good stick and they'd be fine.

As he went through his thought, Ivori had seen more than a few of his classmates. There was, of course, the pair of Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie (Male/Female Student No. 12), who would probably make a _very_ dangerous combination out in the field. The disrespectful punk known as Sky Lark followed soon after that. Ilia Amitola (Female Student No. 13) left about as quickly and quietly as possible, while the panicking mess of Roy Stallion (Male Student No. 14) did the exact opposite, sort of making a fool of himself in the process. Lastly, there was Octavia Ember (Female Student No. 14), who was functionally a beauty queen thrust into the middle of a war...She wouldn't last long, not without a group anyways.

And then, his name came.

Ivori stood up from his seat and calmly walked over to the men, taking his bag calmly and exiting without a fuss, though he could swear he got screamed at by one of them to go faster. As soon as he stepped out, he ran off to the side of the building and calmly took a seat underneath the tree. Sure, he'd be soaked by the time Kobalt got out, but it didn't matter. It was just water after all.

* * *

Fear...Power..._Control_.

While she'd likely never admit it to _these _people, Cinder Fall (Female Student No. 17) couldn't lie...Those were the very things that _really_ got her going. Always had been, ever since she was a kid. So in a lot of ways, she really didn't mind the whole idea of killing her classmates. They weren't exactly a crowd who matter all that much to her. In fact, she would be lying if she said she knew most of their names.

The only ones in class she bothered to acknowledge more often than note were Mercury Black, who was already long gone by this point. If he was thinking right he'd be waiting outside for her, but Mercury isn't the type to actually do the smart thing. Probably more likely he ran off after some dumbass who lingered around a bit too long for their own good. Maybe Rose, or the Schnee girl. Hell, if it's a good day it'd maybe have been Xiao Long. A threat like her getting taken out real early would certainly make the later parts of the game less of a headache.

But on the bright side, Emerald Sustrai (Female Student No. 16) was still here-

"Girl number fifteen, Coco Adel."

Fucker.

Anyways, Emerald was at least still here. In a lot of ways, she was probably the closest thing Cinder had to a _'friend'_ in class, though she wouldn't really call it that. It was more that all she had to do is say something, then Emerald does it. Simple, calculated, consistent.

Certainly a lot easier than Mercury who will always cause a fucking scene, even for the most minor of shit. If she wants him to smash somebody's teeth in, he better well fucking do it and not worry about the consequences. That's her job! If she was telling him to do it than she _already_ thought the whole thing out. She was smart, a hell of a lot more than anything that had ever gone through his head. Hell, he was lucky whenever he did basic math correctly.

"Boy number sixteen, Nadir Shiko."

Anyways, Cinder already had a plan for this damned game. First, meet up with Emerald and Mercury and get any doubts in their mind out of the way. Make it clear she was in charge and if they don't do what she says they're _going_ to die...Well, they still are gonna die, but she's not telling them that.

"Girl number sixteen, Emerald Sustrai."

And there she goes. Eh, she'll wait for her like the loyal dog she is...Crap, what was she thinking again? This shit is the reason she needs a notebook...Well, a new one anyway.

...Oh yeah, that game bullshit. Basically she'll meet up with the two, kill everyone in the game, stab them in the back, maybe even literally, then win. Boom, she goes home, gets a decent fortune if what the 'teacher' was saying is true, and get a new name so she doesn't have to deal with all the dramatic bullshit involving the families of these kids wanting her dead.

"Boy number seventeen, Fox Alistair."

There goes the blind boy. If Emerald is smart she'll just off the guy on his way out, though admittedly a steep cliff could probably off him for them.

She would probably be leaving any minute now...And Cinder was excited about it, about every opportunity she'd have to do _whatever_ she wanted. A chance to truly commit to every heinous act she had ever imagined in her mind, but could never act on because of this pathetic school system. It was practically orgasmic.

"Girl number seventeen, Cinder Fall."

Yes...Yes, Cinder would _enjoy_ this game.

* * *

There were a few unspoken rules among the students of Beacon High. Don't make puns around Mister Port unless you want to annoy him. Don't eat at the cafeteria cause there was always a fifty percent chance of either Nora Valkyrie or Yang Xiao Long starting a food fight that you're unlikely to walk away from with clean clothes. Don't mess with Cardin Winchester or Cinder Fall.

And _avoid_ Blake Belladonna (Female Student No. 20).

Blake was one of the exchange students of the class, and of the three, she had quickly gained quite the reputation for exactly where she had come from. The Republic of Greater East Asia. Also known as one of the most feared nations in the world, and one of the most open about their anti-American views.

In some ways, this was advantageous. Unlike Ilia Amitola or Velvet Scarlatina, she was never really bullied by the other kids. Instead, she was avoided as if she was the plague. And it showed thus far too.

Every kid who had left the class who wasn't either an exchange student, an immigrant, or Yang Xiao Long hadn't even spared Blake a glance in this class, even after arriving in here. Hell, when the kid next to her, which she thinks might have been Roy, woke up, the first thing he did upon spotting her was flinch and fall out of his seat like an idiot. And since then...Nothing. It was like she didn't even exist.

That much had persisted pretty well with everyone who had left in the last five minutes too; Nolan Porfirio (Male Student No. 18), Neon Katt (Female Student No. 18), Neptune Vasilias (Male Student No. 19), Nebula Violette (Female Student No. 19), and Kobalt Leaf. No matter how few of them were left in here, by the time Kobalt had bolted, not a single one up till them had given her a look.

She was a ghost...And one of the last kids in class.

Looking back, she saw pretty well who was left. There was Brawnz Ni, a dumb jock who seems to spend more time pumping iron than sleeping, and Penny Polendina...Who weirded her out. Even now, despite the situation, she was smiling, entirely carefree and oblivious to the world around her. It was as if she existed in her own little world and that this whole thing was just a dream in her eyes-

"Girl number twenty, Blake-"

And just like that, Blake jumped up out of her seat. On a fly, as if on survival instinct, she ran forward, grabbed her bag, and disappeared, leaving Brawnz and Penny alone in the large, open classroom. One that had been flooded and compact only moments ago, but now was just...Empty.

Brawnz seemed to be gripping down on his chair with strength comparable to a gorilla, practically on the verge of tearing it in half while on it. Meanwhile though, Penny...Just sat there.

...Waiting...

* * *

"And girl number twenty-one, Penny Polendina."

Torchwick promptly took time to catch his breath, throwing the paper off to the side as the last girl of the class was thrown her bag and left the class. This class certainly put up a lot less of a fight than the last one; he actually had to _kill_ a couple of 'em last time just to get them to shut up about all their bullshit on having rights.

Good thing too. He really didn't want to get a dock in pay this time just because some spoiled brat threw a fit about it. But that was done and over with now.

No kids left to bother him.

All the bags were gone.

He could relax...And enjoy the show.

_Let the games begin._

* * *

**42 Students Left to Go.**

**GOOD LUCK.**


	4. Vendetta

**Author's Note**

**Hour 01 (12:00 - 12:59 AM)**

**Danger Zones:** G7.

**Student(s) Remaining:** 42.

* * *

Running through the thick, dampened jungle, Ciel Soleil (Female Student No. 8) already had a goal in mind as soon as she had exited that infernal facility. It was a simple one admittedly, probably not the type she'd make if she had more time to properly think it over, but in a game such as this, she only has so long, especially when her classmates were filing out of the school as fast as they were.

As soon as she had exited, she had already determined the location she would camp out; H8. There was no particular personal reason why, to be honest, her mind had just gone to eights since she was the eighth girl out. Best stick to a pattern. Plus it was quite close so she wouldn't be walking long. Sure, she didn't mind physical activity, but she'd prefer not doing it if she could. Unfortunately, she hadn't really found a lot in the area. Mostly just jungle still, though in the distance, she could at least make out a large, concrete structure, comparable to a sort of parking garage. Bit of a weird choice for the middle of an island, but that didn't really matter much to her.

Ciel had a feeling that, if she were around someone at the moment, they'd probably be...Disturbed, by how well she was taking this. And she was, that couldn't really be denied of course. As soon as she was told what the game was, it didn't really bother her is all. The only truly scary thing in the mind of a Soleil, especially Ciel, was confusion Confusion leads to mistakes. Mistakes pile up. And eventually, a mistake will be your last. A rather morbid way of putting things to be sure, but it worked as a motivator.

Though something that definitely didn't help her motivation was her "weapon".

It was a box. Pitch black in color, made of something more comparable to paper than cardboard, and seemed thrown together last minute. It had the words, 'The Program', painted onto the front of it, and inside...Well, it was certainly something. In a way, she had gotten what amounted to a survival kit...Except for murder.

First was some sort of tracker. It had a full view of the island on it, along with glowing, yellow dots scattered all across it...Sort of. Right now most of them were still around the neighboring areas of G7. It seemed pretty obvious each of the dots was one of her classmates, and to her luck, she wasn't near any of them. In fact, just about all of the class had gone off towards the exact opposite direction. And the second item...It was a book. She hadn't sat down to read it yet...Maybe she should. Could give her something. And since she has time…

And just as suddenly as she had run off before she came to a stop, sitting down against one of the larger trees near her, and flipping open to the first page. It was mostly blank, with the exception of text in the middle, which read, "Class of Beacon High; Student Bios". She rose a brow at this, though soon after shook her head, turning a couple of pages, and landing on one of actual worth, as she began to read to herself...

"Male student number three, _Jaune Arc_."

* * *

In a way, it would be an understatement to say Jaune Arc (Male Student No. 3) didn't know what to do. For...Oh man, who knows how long, he had just been running, trying to put distance between himself and the school. He almost debated on waiting for his friends, but...Who knows how long that'd take, and who'd be out _before_ them.

_And if they'd be willing to play…_

No, he couldn't think like that, he needed to focus on the present. He had all he needed to survive out here. If all goes well, he wouldn't even have to worry about playing this game. He could just camp out in some nice spot, move when he needed to, and repeat until the last day. He had the food and water needed, and worst-case scenario, he had a weapon in case-

Ah crap, did he forget to check his weapon?!

Grinding to a halt in his tracks, Jaune smashed his body against a nearby tree for cover and lowered his body to look through his bag. As expected, he saw exactly what Torchwick had described; MREs, water bottles, a map, a compass, a flashlight, all the good stuff he'd need to make it out here. But as he moved around his supplies, it slowly revealed some kind of shining, metal plating of some kind on the bottom of the bag, which only made him go faster. And faster. And faster...Until…

To say Jaune was shocked as he slowly pulled out a large, metal shield would be an understatement. He was even more shocked as he hooked his left arm under the leather straps on the inside of it, and saw that it seemed almost custom-built for his body type. He admittedly couldn't tell what _type_ of shield it was, but...Best guess...Maybe a heater? Weapons weren't really his thing. If someone wanted to know about this sort of stuff they'd usually ask Ruby Rose (Female Student No. 3), not Jaune...Then again they probably wouldn't ask him about much of anything.

...Well, now he's bummed out.

Jaune swung around the shield for a moment. It was pretty light and seemed more than sturdy. To be honest, if he whacked someone with it, it'd probably be hard enough to at least stagger them...N-Not that he _planned_ to go around smashing kids in the face, of course, he just means if he _has_ to- Why is he defending himself _to_ himself?

With a calm sigh, he laid down on the ground and zipped the bag back up, keeping the shield firmly strapped to his arm. He could've asked for a lot worse to be honest-

However, Jaune's thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of...Crying?

* * *

As soon as Weiss Schnee (Female Student No. 2) had left the school, she hadn't stopped running, not for a single second. She was scared, that much could be seen by anybody, especially thanks to her bloodshot eyes and the tears rolling down her face.

"_Look at yourself, a Schnee, crying...Disgraceful."_

All Weiss wanted to do was just break down crying, and wail out all of her fears into the dark, night sky, unafraid of who'd hear her as long as _somebody_ could. She wanted to be free to show the world just how utterly, horribly _fucked_ she was. But she couldn't. She'd be killed, or worse...W-What if they left her alive just to mess with her. To do what they wanted with her delicate frame.

"_Complaining and whining like a spoiled child. Father would be so disappointed."_

Instead, here she was, leaning against a tree in a small clearing, the palm of her hand covering her mouth, as she sniffled and let out muffled cries. She couldn't handle this…

"Yo...Schnee. That you?"

Weiss' eyes grew wide at the voice, as she shuffled her body and pushed it further against the tree, turning to the voice, only to flinch as a light shined into her eyes. Blinking rapidly, her visage soon began to adjust, better making out the image before her. School uniform, so a boy. Dark skin. Average height with a semi-toned build. Those delicate, soothing eyes…

Flynt Coal (Male Student No. 2). She couldn't say she knew him that well, though really, who _did_ she know? Besides Ruby and her friends, Weiss didn't really talk to most people. But Flynt...He always had this oddly calming aura around him. Back at school, he'd just be hanging around between classes, playing his trumpet for all the world to hear, and the music he'd make was _spectacular_. Downright mesmerizing even. As such, basically everyone liked him, even Weiss, though she had always felt he wasn't an especially big fan of hers, especially since she had caught him sending her dirty looks a couple of times.

And yet, here he was, the first person she had encountered in the program, shining a light in her eye, his sunglasses still resting on his face. She was almost shocked they hadn't taken those away from him before he had woke up, though maybe those sick freaks wanted him to stand out from the crowd. Why would they? She wouldn't know, but considering the situation, could you _blame_ her for thinking there might be malice behind it?

She continued to stare at the boy in relative silence, eventually forcing out, "F-Flynt?"

"Oh, so you do know my name then," Weiss couldn't help but flinch at his tone, which sounded...Frustrated almost. He turned off his flashlight and walked forward with narrowed eyes. She couldn't lie, with his whole demeanor, and body, and general personality even...He kind of gave off the feeling of a mobster, which made her feel a bit more tense, "glad to know the rumors about the heiress being blind to _everyone_ around her was slightly exaggerated."

Okay, that one kinda stung a little.

"Flynt...I'm glad to see you're okay," Weiss choked out, attempting to force a smile that seemed to crack almost instantly.

"Yeah, uh-huh," Flynt responded, his voice hollow of emotions, as he stared her down, "sure you are…" Weiss could swear, he was practically scanning her with his eyes as if trying to figure something out. "...Won't lie, kinda glad I ran into you first. It gives me a chance to finally get some answers…"

And just like that, Weiss could feel whatever color was left in her face drain, as she saw Flynt pull something out from his back...Something familiar. She had heard Ruby tell her about the many nicknames it had gained through its years of use; the Tommy Gun, the Chicago Typewriter, the Annihilator, the Chopper, the _Organ Grinder_…

In his hands, Flynt Coal was holding a Thompson submachine gun; a former favorite of the Italian Mob, and in the darkness, Weiss couldn't lie, Flynt definitely fit in with that picture.

"Back in class, you never gave anyone the time of day, Schnee. But out here...I finally have a chance to have my voice heard," Flynt growled out, his finger hanging off the trigger, "my family and I used to run a little cafe you know. A pretty damn good one too...Then your father ran us out of business with that devil company of his. My dad was dealing with so much debt, we lost practically everything...And now, I'm gonna make you lose something."

Weiss simply stared, cradling her knees against her head as tears started to run down her face, "Please-"

Flynt held up the gun and aimed it at her, though she could make out his reluctance as his arms shook in fear. "Give me your bag, Schnee." She didn't respond at first, causing him to scream even louder. "Give me it-"

However, his voice faded upon hearing the sound of a snapping tree branch nearby, causing him to flinch and turn toward the sound. Standing nearby, Jaune Arc stood tall, his face contorted into an unnatural scowl, a metal shield strapped onto his left arm. "Flynt...I really think you should stop now."

For a moment, Flynt almost seemed to shake upon spotting Jaune, though nonetheless grit his teeth and held up his gun, though Jaune continued to approach. "You _really_ don't wanna do this, Arc. We both know how things will end if I pull this trigger."

"Then do it, cause I'm not going to just standby and let you do this," he called out, seemingly unaware that Weiss Schnee was slowly inching away, tears still running down her face as she reached for her bag.

"This ain't none of your business," Flynt growled, his arms still shaking, "I don't wanna hurt you! I wasn't even gonna hurt her! I just want her to know the feeling of having something stolen away from you...To know the _pain_ of not being sure when your next meal is. To face whatever struggles are ahead of her same way I had-"

Before he could finish though, his eyes bulged in pain, as he let out a screech, as his left leg collapsed in on itself, falling to his knee. Crimson blood slowly began to run down from some kind of deep cut on his thigh. Next to him, her weapon raised high, Weiss stared in uncertain panic, as she held in her hands a thin-bladed weapon; a rapier.

Flynt silently gripped onto his leg in pain, mumbling, "Y-You-" However, he was cut off as a metal shield abruptly smashed against the side of his face. His glasses shattered instantly, and has his eyes not been closed, there was a chance he could have been blinded instantly. Flynt's upper teeth ground against his bottom lip, tearing it slightly, and a single stray tooth came flying out. And before anything else could be said, his way collided with the muddy ground, as he coughed out in pain at what had just happened.

The world was a daze to him, almost entirely blurry, and the volume? Almost mute...Man, what was happening?

"_Weiss, we gotta go, come on!"_

W-Weiss...S-Schnee...She can't get away...She needs...To...To…

Flynt Coal slowly rose up from the ground, his mind all over the place and face bruised, as he lifted up the machine gun, and pointed it toward the two blurs off in the distance. He pulled down on the trigger, and almost instantly his body was thrown back from the force, as a series of bullets flew off into the air, completely off target, as Flynt landed on the ground once more.

With a groan, he stared up at the stars above in silence. His leg hurt like a bitch, though he could tell it wasn't too bad. Only really a scratch, even if a deep one...Though he should probably get it out of the mud.

Grunting out in pain, Flynt slowly stood up from his spot, having forgotten the fact his bag was still wrapped around his arm, as he gradually began to step forward in the opposite direction. All the while, he reflected a bit on the events that had just occurred, and for a moment, a smile formed on his face, as he couldn't help but laugh at himself. "That was a gutsy move, Schnee...I dig it."

And with that, Flynt Coal walked off into the night, gun in hand, prepared to carry on his vendetta in the morning...If he could make it till then at least.

* * *

"Ya hear that?" Scarlet David (Male Student No. 9) stared toward the trees in silence, his eyes raised as he ran his free hand through his red hair, calmly continuing, "Think I heard like...Gunshots or something. A grunt was all he needed in response from Sage Ayana (Male Student No. 8), who was taller, larger, and far more muscular than Scarlet in every way. At least he had him outclassed in looks though, so really, who was the real winner in terms of genes here?

"Eh, best not to think too hard on it," Scarlet continued, as he began to step forward along the gravel path, "none of our business. That and dying ain't on my to-do list."

"You really think someone's dead?" Sage grumbled out, following along, as each step he took shook the ground where he stood.

"Either that, or they missed. One or the other." He confirmed, seemingly content with not caring. After a moment, he looked back at him, "You sure this is the right way?"

"Yup," Sage soundly _and_ bluntly confirmed, as he held up his compass, "he was very clear with the plan...Well, as clear as was possible really."

Scarlet smirked a bit at this, chuckling to himself as he threw his arms behind his head, "Good. Once we meet up with Sun and Nep, ain't no way we're not finding a way off this rock, someway or another." He let out a few resounding laughs to himself, seemingly unaware of a deep look of concern on Sage's face, as he attempted to shake his thoughts away silently.

It was going to be a long night.

* * *

**42 Students Left to Go.**


	5. Encounters

**Author's Note**

**Hour 02**** (1:00 - 1:59 AM)**

**Danger Zones:** G7.

**Student(s) Remaining:** 42.

* * *

Whistling a little jingle to himself, Neptune Vasilias (Male Student No. 19) lightly tapped his foot against the ground to the tune while he relaxed against a tree, his designated weapon in his hand. Neptune was pretty used to being lucky, but he couldn't lie that he felt he had made it big. His weapon was a long _golden_ trident. That's right, fucking _gold!_ This thing looks sick! Sure, the thing is heavy as Hell and pretty damn unpractical, but in terms of sheer style, he _had_ to have gotten the best weapon in the game. Unless some guy got like a chainsaw or some crap, but that sounds way too mental.

Right now, he was waiting under a tree, while his bud, Sun Wukong (Male Student No. 10) was looking out over the jungle. For some reason, the dude had waited for him to get out. He had _no idea_ how, but if he _had_ to guess he probably just hung around in a tree or something. Kinda like a monkey...Actually, he kinda acted like one too.

After a moment, Sun dropped down from the tree, his blonde hair sparkling almost in the moonlight. In his hands was a long, wooden staff, sorta similar to the weapon that ninja turtle used in those movies Sun forced you to come to. The guy was always forcing you into shit you wouldn't bother with, whether it be movies, or in this case, waiting around in the middle of nowhere during an island-wise fight to the death involving a majority of the people they've ever known...Though admittedly, he probably shouldn't be comparing those two things.

"Okay, so I was right," Sun started, an abnormally large smile on his face considering the situation, "if we keep heading north, we'll hit the lighthouse. Hopefully Sage and Scarlet get there before us so we don't have to do a bunch of waiting."

Neptune shrugged, a smirk growing onto his face, "Unless they stop to fuck, I doubt they'll take too long," Sun looked less than amused, "what? Oh come on, you already know that Scarlet-"

The two shut up though upon hearing the sounds of wheezing. They held up their weapons and quickly got into defensive stances...Though Neptune had to admit, Sun actually looked _ready_ to defend himself while Neptune was just sorta holding out his trident in a way he hoped looked sorta intimidating. He had never been in a fight before unless you counted football games, which he really didn't, or used a weapon of any kind. Meanwhile, Sun looked kinda scary, certainly not like anything he'd fight. Those kung-fu classes of his had done him well.

"W-Wait, don't hurt me, man!"

Oh..._Oh_, Neptune felt dumb now.

Walking out from the woods, with sweat running down his shaking face and dark skin, was Roy Stallion (Male Student No. 14). Dude was a regular at the football games and was pretty cool from the few conversations they'd had, though he wouldn't call them friends or anything. In fact, he had always gotten a distinct feeling that Roy hated his guts. But he couldn't lie...It was so...Weird seeing him like this.

Back at school, Roy was practically a king among men. Well-respected, street-smart, naturally handsome with an award-winning smile that, while not as good as _Neptune's_ obviously, was still pretty decent, and that wasn't even _talking_ about how much of a ladykiller he usually was, or how his dancing could make some girls swoon. Neptune could swear he saw him go home with _two girls_ after prom! _Two!_ Even _he _isn't that good; all he was able to get was Octavia Ember (Female Student No. 14), and sure, while she was fun, _two_ girls would always be better!

But out here...God it was like looking at a sad puppy. His usual confidence and swagger were just...Gone, as if it had never existed in the first place. His eyes were puffy and red; he had probably just spent the last few minutes crying, which was supported quite a bit by the snot running down the face. Seems like the teacher had really shaken him up with that gunshot…

Sun seemed to pity Roy to an extent, lowering his staff for a moment, "We're not gonna hurt you, Roy. Just don't sneak up on us or anyone else, okay? You could seriously get yourself hurt doing something that stupid."

However, this seemingly did little to calm Roy down, as he continued to stare on at the two boys in fear. Neptune continued to hold his trident out, as he slowly looked toward his bag. It looked a _Hell_ of a lot bigger than his or Sun's. Looks like ol' Roy got something pretty huge.

"Yo, Roy, what weapon did you get?" Neptune asked as he began to approach. He felt Sun's hand grab onto his shoulder, which he shrugged off, "What? I'm just asking."

However, Roy looked less than amused, narrowing his eyes into a panicked scowl, as he held his bag close. "I-It's none of your business, man, so stay back!" However, Neptune didn't listen, continuing to approach. "Dude, I'm warning you, chill and get the _fuck_ back!"

"I just wanna know-"

And just like that, Roy had had it.

With a roar, he swung his bag as hard as he could, smashing it against the side of Neptune's smug, pretty _fucking _face and sending him tumbling to the ground. Roy wouldn't admit it, but...It was kinda satisfying if only cause Neptune's ego and near-suicidal self-indulgence had always pissed him off. Hell, even now, had Neptune just minded his own damn business this shit wouldn't have gotten ugly so fast.

What was decidedly _less_ satisfying was the crunching sound that had come from it, and the wail that followed, "Roy, what the _Hell!"_ Neptune cradled his nose in his hands, as blood began to gradually leak through. Something was broken, he could tell.

Roy simply stared in silence, taking a few steps back, before breaking into a sprint, running into the jungle, ignoring the screams to wait from Sun and the constant swearing from Neptune.

* * *

Jaune Arc (Male Student No. 3) slowly opened up his MRE and was sort of taken aback by how much was in the little bag. An entrée and side, some crackers, seasoning, a little beverage bag, sugar, matches, some kind of dessert bag, a weird spread of some sort, a hand wipe, a spoon, and a little transparent heating bag. Gotta give it to the military, they know how to get a lot of neat stuff into these.

He slowly pulled out the entrée, which based on what it said, was beef stew. He placed it inside his heating bag, pulled out his water bottle, and then poured a little bit inside. After a moment, the bag seemed to begin inflating, and smoke slowly started to exit- holy shit, this was getting hot!

With a yelp he placed the bag onto the ground, staring on in silence as the bag did its job. After a moment, he took a few steps back and sat down against a tree...Right next to Weiss Schnee (Female Student No. 2), who hadn't said a thing to him since the incident with Flynt Coal (Male Student No. 2). And honestly, he didn't want to bother her much. She was obviously scared about this whole situation, and...He couldn't blame her. Hell, he was pretty scared too. Genuinely, he thought he was gonna _die_ back there.

When he was standing across from Flynt, that machine gun pointed at him, Jaune was _horrified_. Barely even standing to be honest, as it took all his strength and willpower to not collapse on the ground. If he pulled the trigger, that would have been it. The death of Jaune Arc shot dead by some guy he didn't even know. What a legacy _that'd_ leave behind. And when Flynt was distracted, he seemed to hit him mostly on auto-pilot. Truth be told he had barely even been paying attention when that whole thing happened-

"Jaune…"

He flinched at the voice, turning to see Weiss, still cradled against the tree and hugging her legs, was mumbling to herself. "Why did you save me?" Jaune was taken aback a bit by the question, as she slowly looked up at him. "We're not friends...You don't know me. So why?" He just stared in silence in response, as she let out a low sigh and slowly moved her head back. "Well...Thank you regardless. If it weren't for you, I could be...Best not to think about it, I suppose."

Jaune simply stared, a sort of grimace forming on his face. He had...No idea what to do right now. Here he was, sitting next to his crush, having just _saved her life_...And he wasn't even talking back. He really didn't even know what could be said. Gee, it sure was swell saving your life from a guy who was pointing a _gun_ at your face! Yeah, that wasn't happening-

As he was saying this, he could distinctly hear something off in the forest. Raising from his spot with a start, Jaune's eyes widened as he brought up his shield protectively, seemingly unaware of the look Weiss was giving him. "W-Who's there?" He received no response, likely due to how hushed and choked out his words had been. Breathing in for a moment, he called out again, this time for louder, "Who's there-"

"Jaune?" Jaune almost had to do a double-take at the voice. "Jaune is that you?"

Stepping out from the forest, her uniform surprisingly in-tact, was a small girl, with pale skin and a small smile. Jaune stared at her in silence, as Weiss quickly found herself rising from her spot. "...R-Ruby?"

* * *

"_Ruby!"_

Yang Xiao Long stomped through the forest with a narrowed scowl, her velvet-blue eyes seeming almost scarily inhuman in the darkness. She shuffled slightly in her tight-worn uniform, her bag still on her back, which had lightened considerably as soon as she has taken out her weapon from it; a pump-action shotgun. The note that came with the gun called it Winchester, though she couldn't lie that she almost rolled her eyes at the name.

Something designed for brute force at close range intended to throw someone backward? Yep, that certainly _sounds_ like Cardin Winchester (Male Student No. 11). Glad the douche didn't get his hands on it.

As she thought this, she stomped down hard onto an exposed root, before calling out again, _"Ruby!"_

This game was going to be Hell, she could feel it. But what else was gonna happen? You drop a bunch of hormonal kids onto a deserted island and _then_ hand them guns along with a handy dandy _bomb on their neck_, and only two things can occur from it; an orgy, or a fucking _massacre_, and she certainly didn't see the former happening right now! People were killing each other; Hell, someone might already be _dead_. She _heard_ those gunshots earlier, and no way were they just trying out their weapons. In a way, it almost reminded her of something Nolan Porfirio (Male Student No. 18) had said in world history once…

"_At the end of the day, as long as there's two people left on the planet, someone is gonna want someone dead."_

...Actually, now that she thought about it, she was pretty sure he had gotten that from a video game. Nerd.

With a shake of her head, Yang held up her head, calling out once more, "Ru-" However, she stopped herself upon hearing something nearby. In one swift movement, she cradled herself against a nearby tree for cover, pressing the shotgun against her as she began to scowl in silence.

Walking along a stone path a little below her thanks to being on higher ground, a group of four soon entered her vision, and upon seeing who they were, Yang couldn't help but sigh in relief. It wasn't a threat...Thank _God_ it wasn't a threat. But she still didn't move from her spot, instead just watching, as Nebula Violette (Female Student No. 19), Dew Gayl, Gwen Darcy (Female Student No. 9), and Octavia Ember began to walk past.

The popular girls. Yang had spoken to them a few times prior to the game, mainly thanks to sharing a few classes with Nebula and Octavia. They were pretty cool, though she'd be lying if Octavia's constant complaining about her teachers didn't get on her nerves a little bit. And as expected, they all looked gorgeous, even out here; Nebula's short black hair and perfect face, Dew's long dirty blonde hair and athletic figure, Gwen somehow managing to look like a prom queen even while going through this weird goth phase, and Octavia...God, that red hair, those beautiful eyes, her perfect body-

W-Wait, no, she needed to stop drooling over them and _focus_. Regardless of being "friends" with them, who knows where they stood in a game like this

Nebula was at the front of the group, as usual, her hands running over a small, wooden weapon; a crossbow. She'd never seen one in real life before, though she couldn't help but feel a little unnerved by it. The rest of their weapons didn't seem to help much; Dew had a long, tipped metal spear that looked more than capable of tearing open Yang's throat, which she instinctively grabbed at the thought. Gwen had a group of six throwing knives wrapped up in some small black rag, which hung out of her pocket like decorations. And Octavia had a small, rusty hatchet in her hands, which oddly seemed to be a bit too heavy for her.

Yang slowly moved her head out a bit more, in an attempt to try and get a bit better of a few and to hopefully hear what they were talking about-

_Snap_.

...Aw crap.

The four all turned at the noise, Nebula pointing her weapon instinctively, as all their eyes landed on the figure of Yang Xiao Long, who stared down at them in horrified silence. Upon realizing who it was, Nebula seemed slightly taken aback, "Yang? The Hell are you doing-"

However, she was cut off, as Dew ran to the front of the pack, and on instinct, tossed her thin, metal spear right at Yang, which missed by quite a large number of feet, but still pierced a tree nonetheless. This was still enough to cause the blonde to pale and run off though.

"_W-Wait, Yang! Goddammit, Dew, what the fuck?!"_

As she ran away from the screaming group of ladies though, Yang mostly tuned them out, instead just running. Running as fast as she could away from the scene. She needed to get out of there. She needed to survive.

She needed to find her sister.

* * *

"_W-Wait, Yang!"_ Nebula screamed out into the forest as Yang ran off, disappearing from sight within moments. Soon after, she turned to dirty blonde beside her with a look of thorough rage, "Goddammit, Dew, _what the fuck?!"_

"She was sneaking up on us," Dew simply responded, no emotion present in her voice. "She clearly had hostile intent, otherwise she would have approached us."

"What if she _was_ doing that, and _you_ just overreacted!" Nebula countered back, pointing a finger at her friend's face, "We can't just attack people for _walking over!"_

"She wasn't though-"

"She could have been-"

"Oh my God, _shut up!"_ Octavia grumbled out, "You're giving me a headache. Isn't being stuck in this stupid game bad enough _without_ you guys trying to kill each other. So you scared her off, big deal, not like it matters."

Nebula seemed almost betrayed by her words, soon saying, "Of course it matters! Yang's our friend, she deserved to feel safe, and not think we were _trying to kill her_." Octavia only shrugged at this, already done with the conversation and wanting to move on.

The three stood in awkward, tense silence for a moment, until eventually, Gwen spoke up, "Maybe we should relax for a moment. It happened, we can't change that now. But...Who knows Nebula, maybe we'll see her later and we can sort things out."

This seemed to calm Nebula slightly, who began to smile in hollow silence though Dew wasn't listening, or at least if she was, her words weren't meaning much. Instead, she stomped up the small hill and tore the spear right out of the tree it had landed in.

* * *

_Roy's our boy. Roy's our boy. Roy's our fucking boy_.

Over and over in his head, Roy Stallion chanted this to himself, as if acting as his own, personal fucking hype man. He admittedly found the chant kinda shitty, but Nolan Porfirio had once told him that, if he ever felt worried, or anxious, to just keep saying that to himself. And, despite the fucker being kinda weird, he couldn't lie...Nolan was pretty good with this sorta shit, cause every chant seemed to calm Roy down a little bit more.

Eventually, he grew calm enough to stop running, coming to a stop and allowing himself a moment to breathe. He just broke Neptune Vasilias' nose..._Neptune fucking Vasilias!_ The playboy of Beacon High. The rich shit. Mister popular...Yeah, he didn't really like the guy. He only ever really hung out with him occasionally because of both status, and his friendship with Sun, and these days, Sun seemed to drag Neptune everywhere he goes, like a sad fucking puppy.

So if he was so happy to have done so...Why was he practically gagging?

Roy was on the ground, coughing violently into the bushes now, his eyes wide and his mouth constantly preparing itself to vomit up whatever food he had left in his system. He just couldn't help imaging Neptune's cracked bones, or the waterfall of blood that could be running down his face, or even just the look of anger in his eyes...Oh God...What if the fucker tracked him down? What if he broke _his_ nose? What if he did _worse?!_

No...No he had made enough distance. He was long gone, those sick fucks wouldn't catch him, not anytime soon at least. He wouldn't have to worry about them. Who knows, maybe they'd get killed before he had to- Why would he think like that?! This isn't him...Goddammit, what the fuck is _wrong_ with this stupid, fucking game! This shit is fucked, man, real fucking shitting fucked!

Slowly, Roy found himself standing up from where he had been wretching. He...Needed to stop...He needed to calm down...Maybe he should eat or something. Who knows how long it had been since he had last eaten after all. Granted, his surroundings weren't the best for food; a gross pit full of hardened mud, surrounded by more jungle and a mountain next to him, that sorta shit.

Walking over to his bag, he slowly unzipped it, his dull eyes looking for anything to gain excitement from...And then they began to sparkle. With his mouth agape, and in utter silence, he reached inside the bag, and slowly pulled something quite spectacular out. It was a large, metal tool of sorts, with a long, extended chain going along a sort of saw, ending in a sizable metal frame. This shit...This shit was a fucking _chainsaw!_ He had gotten a shitting _chainsaw_, motherfucker...

_Groovy._

As he thought this though, he flinched slightly at the sound of something. It sounded like clomping mud, sort of comparable to what you'd hear on a horse ranch. Every step sounded delayed, almost forced, and as if they'd stop any second, only to keep on going. It didn't sound human. More like a disabled cat, or maybe a horse with a broken leg, some shit like that.

Roy slowly looked up, chainsaw in hand, toward the forest on a slightly higher thing of land. He climbed up it soon after grabbing onto a tree for support as he reached down to pull up his chainsaw. He had to keep this shit on him at all times. Sure, the rest of the bag was important, but not really for scouting in his eyes. Not like the shit would move while he was gone or something.

With a shake of his head, he walked a bit further into the forest, following the sounds he was hearing, which grew louder, and more pained by the second. And soon, he found the source of said pain; a trail of blood. Granted, it wasn't a ton, and the light rain above was soaking most of it into the grass, but the scarce sources of light still illuminated it just enough to make the crimson stand out. Whoever this dude was, he ain't okay. Probably in a Hell of a lot of pain...Shit man, that's fucked.

He looked over the trail, and with some reluctance, began to follow it. He didn't plan to _do_ anything obviously, h-he was just curious is all. Nothing more, nothing less, that sorta-

However, Roy found himself cutting off his thoughts, as he stared forward at the limping, barely standing body of Flynt Coal...Holy crap, he looked terrible. His left leg was bleeding pretty fucking bad, dude shoulda patched that shit up. But maybe he wasn't thinking straight...Hell, Roy would hate to admit it, but _he_ wasn't thinking straight either. Breaking Neptune's nose, getting hyped at the thought of having a chainsaw, following a _trail of blood_. By just about all accounts Roy was a fucking lunatic.

After a moment of dry heaving, Flynt Coal straightened his posture slightly, That was Flynt for ya, never stayed down. As Roy stared on though, Flynt seemed to look back a moment. He didn't stare long, but it was _just_ long enough to catch a glimpse of Roy...And his chainsaw. This seemed to startle Flynt, causing him to jump away from where he standing, dropping his backpack in the process, though he managed to hang onto to keep one thing. Roy couldn't tell what it was though; this shitty night was too fucking dark. He'd need to get closer to see what it was...Maybe his weapon?

The two returned stares after a second passed, their eyes hardened and hollow, as they stared right through each other. "...Sup Flynt," Roy started, walking forward while forcing a smile, trying to look as unintimidating as possible...While carrying a chainsaw. Flawless plan. "How 'ya doin' out here, bud?"

Obviously, Flynt couldn't help but sweat a little at the sight of the saw's blade. He soon choked out, "Well...I mean, we're in this game, Roy. Ain't exactly feelin' like sunshine and roses."

"Fair, fair," Roy mumbled, his eyes slowly looked away from whatever weapon Flynt had, and toward his chest. Lean...Not a lot of muscle...Roy was stronger than him. Could probably knock him over real fucking good. Instinctively, his grip on the chainsaw tightened. "How'd you get that cut, Flynt?"

"Nasty encounter with Schnee," Flynt grunted out, clearly losing focus. Good, he's distracted by something. Just means he wouldn't have to worry.

"Yeah...Yeah, that sucks for you, man...Must be hard moving much with it," Roy slowly gravitated one of his hands toward the cord, "bet you uh...Can't go too fast either…" An eerie smile Roy couldn't explain soon formed on his face. He didn't know what he was doing...He almost didn't want to. Almost...Almost is the keyword...Cause he _did_. Real bad. Real fucking bad, he wanted to _butcher_ this fool like a pig, and he couldn't explain why. The feeling in his chest that ordered him to...It was so goddamn hard to turn down.

Quickly, Flynt seemed to understand what was happening. Shit. "R-Roy, calm down now, man. Don't wanna do something you'd regret, right? Put the-"

Instantly, the chainsaw came to life as Roy pulled as hard as he could on the cord. It let out some sort of roar, and with some considerable effort, Roy moved it up slightly to point at Flynt, a wicked look forming on his face. "Y-You're right, motherfucker...I am gonna regret this. B-But right now...I don't seem to care."

Flynt's eyes widened, as Roy ran forward as fast as he could, swinging the saw around like a madman, a grin forming across his face. He was so caught up, he didn't seem to notice as Flynt pulled up the weapon to his side. The whole scene seemed to light up, as a sound comparable to a typewriter or a bunch of pebbles in can erupted from nowhere. And for some, reason...Roy's chest started hurting real fucking bad.

* * *

Flynt Coal hadn't pulled the trigger for long. Couldn't have been longer than a second, maybe two, but it was long enough for a stream of bullets to come flooding out of his gun, flying forward and tearing into Roy Stallion's exposed body. The bullets hit hard and came out flying just as quick, as blood sprayed across the ground. His body, now peppered with holes, continued to run right at him, though with seemingly no thought, running right past him before collapsing to the ground in a single movement, landing on his arm in the process.

For a moment, the only sound Flynt could hear was the engine of the chainsaw.

He looked down at his handiwork in horror. Laying on the ground, the boy formerly known as Roy Stallion twitched in place, his head gyrating painfully. Bullets had landed all over his body; his chest, his stomach, his arms...Even his face had gotten a few it seemed, as two fresh holes in his cheek and left eye slowly oozed out blood in mass. It didn't seem real almost. It looked straight out of a horror movie. Something done by a serial killer, or some kind of madman…

But that wasn't the case...Flynt had done that. Flynt Coal; musician, waiter, murderer.

For a moment, all Flynt could do was stare, but soon he turned his gaze toward his hands. The hands of a murderer. The ones covered in blood, just like the rest of his body. Roy's blood. Flynt continued to look on...Before he felt something come up. He ran over to a nearby bush and began to puke. And there he stood, for minutes on end, gagging and crying at his actions.

One minute ago, Roy Stallion was still alive. Now, his body was sprawled out, broken and bleeding, his single remaining eye staring directly at his murderer.

* * *

**41 Students Left to Go.**

**Boy #14, Roy Stallion (Chainsaw | 0 Kills | Killed by Flynt Coal)  
**Ever since this story was in its planning stages, there was never a point in time where Roy _wasn't_ going to be the first one to die. In my eyes, it was sorta perfect; he was a relatively minor character in the canon who was already dead, his weapon allowed me to immediately show that just because something is deadly doesn't mean it's actually worth much, and it'd immediately force an uncomfortable situation. Said uncomfortable situation is this; Roy, a normally chill, popular guy, is reduced to a panicked, anxious mess who was doomed out the gate because of his own paranoia, which caused him to react violently toward the people he encountered and make assumptions. I wanted the first death of this game to quickly set the rules, and I think he did; don't panic, know who to trust and _when_ to do so, work to yours and your weapon's advantage, and don't get sloppy. He failed to do all these things and was _basically_ instantly executed for it. But I won't lie, I kinda grew this morbid attachment to the guy in the writing of this and the previous chapters. The fact the dude's vocabulary was mostly made up of "shit" and "fuck" inside head fun certainly contributed to that though. I counted; 23 counts of fuck, 17 counts of shit...I might have miscounted, but whatever!


	6. Last Call

**Author's Note**

**BREAK FROM GAME!**

* * *

Humming to himself in a leather chair, Roman Torchwick couldn't help but smile a bit as he looked over the monitors showcasing the island. Only two hours in and already one of these kids was dead. Shame it couldn't be something more eventful though. He would have loved to have seen that chainsaw rip through someone, but the night is still young...Relatively.

With a shrug, he dug his hand into the bag beside him, pulling out a potato chip. One of the kids had brought a whole _bag_ of these things with them on the trip! He didn't remember which one exactly, but if he had to guess it was probably Sky Lark (Male Student No. 13) since he appeared to be the chunkiest of the boys. Sure, it was a generalization, but really, who gives a crap out here? Especially cause in all likelihood the boy would probably be dead in the next day or so.

As he watched over the monitors though, he couldn't help but feel he had forgotten something...

* * *

Inside a small, rustic bar, in the late hours of the night, only two patrons remained. The first, a wiry, tall man with spectacles and wild hair, giving him a look almost comparable to a mad scientist, almost like that of an older Victor Frankenstein. The latter, however, was quite plump and large, wearing tight-fitting clothes and only standing out thanks to his large, bushy mustache and wrinkled eyes. They sat in silence across from one another, their glass mugs dry and their table moist from the aging whiskey.

The two had barely spoken to one another, mostly just quietly drinking their sorrows away and occasionally standing up for refills. They didn't even enjoy the taste much, or the feeling it gave them. It was just...Something they were doing to distract themselves. From their lives, from their jobs…

From their students…

Among their classes, they were known as teachers Oobleck and Port, and were the fan-favorites among the senior classes. They had never really figured out why if they were completely honest, and they didn't particularly care. Especially not now. Not after what they allowed to happen…

Who knew how many of those poor children were dead already.

"Last call!" A voice sounded off from the bar. A scraggly man, with a pale, boney face and orange eyes. Apparently he was the new bartender there, just started that night.

"We're...We're good," the crazy-haired teacher, now known as Oobleck, muttered.

"N-No...One more shot of w-w-whiskey each...W-We'll n-need it," the pudgier one, known as Port, exclaimed, standing up from his seat slightly.

The bartender simply nodded at this, as he got to work on the drinks. Oobleck simply let out a guttural groan at this, slumping in his chair and grabbing onto his head. "Port...It's too late for this...We need to get home and rest, especially after today."

Port let out a rough sound at this. "I won't...N-Not yet…" He seemed to shiver to himself, mumbling, "I won't g-go...Until I f-forget that a-any of this e-ever happened."

"We can't forget this, Port," Oobleck mumbled, gripping onto the table with clenched teeth, "it happened. It'd be disrespectful of us to just...Forget they ever existed...That we played a part in it."

"Played a part in what?" A voice spoke up, catching the pair's attention. Standing at their table, the bartender stared down at them with an oddly wide smile, which slightly unnerved Oobleck. After a moment, he placed down the two shots rather forcibly, the smile fully showcasing rows and rows of crooked, yellow teeth. "Anyways...Here are the drinks, fellas."

The two teachers watched as the bartender walked off, oddly chipper and almost...Giddy? Like a little kid...It was unnerving, to say the least. Oobleck shook the thoughts away though, as he watched Port pick up his shot and down it without a second thought. Oobleck was almost about to pick up his...But reluctantly stopped himself, pulling back and letting out a low groan. Seemingly understanding the message, Port wasted no time in downing Oobleck's drink as well.

* * *

"See you tomorrow, Port…" Oobleck mumbled out as Port slowly stepped out of his car and approached his house, not even bothering to say much in response beyond a simple burp and cough. The poor fool was even drunker than Oobleck had thought. It was almost pitiful, but right now he couldn't blame him.

A month ago, Oobleck was the fan-favorite teacher on campus. A week later he started getting pestered by the government about an experiment. For another two weeks, he'd desperately plea and beg them to not do anything to the children. Then...He just submitted to it. It didn't take much in hindsight; only a few threats toward his family and Oobleck folded, no longer putting up a fight. Hell, he had been the one who had filed them onto that bus. The last person those kids got to saw before they were taken off to God-knows-where…

He had let those kids get driven off to their deaths.

With a shake of his head, he turned his attention toward the radio and put it on a station. Maybe some music would clear his head-

"_All our times have come...Here, but now they're gone."_

...Well, screw you too, universe. Way to further rub salt into the wound.

As Oobleck drove off into the night though, he seemingly hadn't noticed that Port had never even gotten inside his house. Instead, he laid there, his body having fallen against the door, completely unmoving. A stray, white liquid slowly ran down the side of his mouth, as he twitched in pain. After a few minutes though, he stopped moving, and instead, just laid there, the door barely supporting his hefty weight.

It would be discovered the next day that Peter Port, formerly a beloved teacher of Beacon High, had died of cyanide poisoning.

* * *

Roman rose a brow as he felt something vibrate in his pocket. Pulling out the phone, he placed it to his ear. "Talk to me." He went silent for a few moments, as a wicked grin slowly grew across his face. Chuckling to himself, he nodded along to what he was hearing, "Great to hear, Tyrian. Be sure to clean up, and get to the island before all the fun's over. Wouldn't want you missing the good bits."

Hanging up the phone, he placed it back down, as he looked up at the monitors once more, smirking a little as he saw four dots slowly approaching the pair who had just sparked the violence across the island.

* * *

**RETURNING TO GAME!**


	7. Pack Mentality

**Author's Note**

**Hour 03 (2:00 - 2:59 AM)**

**Danger Zones:** G7.

**Student(s) Remaining:** 41.

* * *

Flynt Coal (Male Student No. 2) stood in shock over the collapsed body of Roy Stallion (Male Student No. 14). Roy had been dead for at least...Five...Ten minutes now, and yet it felt like hours had passed. He was still bleeding quite a bit, and every time Flynt got a whiff of the air he felt the need to gag again. Though, by this point, he had probably thrown up everything he had left in him.

Most sane people would have left by now. Escaped from the crime scene. That's what most killers did after all, and wasn't that what Flynt was now? A killer? And yet he was still there, looking over the corpse as if expecting Roy to get up any minute. To tell him that it was all one big joke. That he was gonna be fine, and then they would laugh and laugh...But that wasn't happening.

Roy was dead, stone fucking dead. The most disturbed part of all though were his eyes...Those beady little eyes that stared right through Flynt. All the while, Flynt was showered in the hard rain above. But he didn't care. The world didn't matter to him, not now at least. He was off in his own little world...So much so, that he didn't seem to hear the sounds of four students approaching the scene.

They were four boys; the first was tall and brutish in appearance, with a muscular body and steely eyes. The second was shorter and leaner, with a mohawk and unnatural grin. The third was just barely taller than the second, though was a bit on the heftier side with long hair. And the fourth and final boy was average in terms of build and had a bowl-cut and narrowed eyes.

If Flynt had looked up, he'd have screamed at the sight before him.

It was Cardin Winchester (Male Student No. 11) and his gang, made up of Russel Thrush (Male Student No. 7), Sky Lark (Male Student No. 13), and Dove Bronzewing (Male Student No. 1). They were some of the worst thugs on campus, with a history of disciplinary issues and violence, especially in the form of after-school brawls. Flynt couldn't even remember how many times he had seen Cardin throwing fists with someone from class, whether it be his usual victims like Jaune Arc (Male Student No. 3) or with the likes of Sage Ayana (Male Student No. 8). Regardless, they had a reputation…

_And_ weapons. Yeah, that seemed a bit more important at the moment.

Looking over the scene, Cardin seemed to almost be inspecting Flynt...Before mumbling, "Holy shit, Flynt. Didn't know you had it in 'ya."

"Looks pretty brutal, too," Russel whistled out, before snickering to himself, "fucking nailed the guy. Never stood a chance."

Flynt attempted to swallow his fear and respond but found himself with nothing to say. Really...What _could_ he say, especially to these guys? It certainly didn't help that Dove was staring right through him, as he caressed the gun in his hands. It appeared to be some sort of wooden rifle, with a long, sharp dagger at the end of it. He didn't know exactly what it was, but one thing was for sure; Flynt _really_ didn't wanna go near it.

The rest of them didn't have weapons all that impressive in comparison. Cardin was rubbing a sort of metal club, with a spiked ball at the end of it; a mace. Russel had a pair of sais, which he had only learned about from watching that turtle cartoon. And Sky had a basic handgun, probably the type you'd usually see on a police officer, or maybe a really pissed off security guard.

As if on instinct, Flynt began to reach toward his machine gun, only to flinch back as a booming sound erupted through the air, tearing into the ground and blowing dirt into the air. Flynt shook in place, slowly turning back toward the group, where he saw Sky's handgun pointed at him, a wide, toothy grin on his face as he mockingly blew out the nonexistent smoke from his pistol. "Sorry, Flynty, but you ain't getting out of this _that_ easily."

Flynt shuddered at the sound of his voice. Sky sounded like he was in utter _bliss_. As if he was getting off to this somehow. Right now, he was pretty disturbing to be honest, in a way completely different from the rest of the trio, if only because of his reputation in class.

Sky Lark had always been more liked than the rest of his group. He was the class clown, a constant jokester who nobody _really_ took all that seriously. In a lot of ways, he was the court jester, while the rest of his little group were the simpleminded, sadistic knights who did little more than pummel and bully everyone in their path. Among them, Sky had always stood out as sort of being the most decent one, the one who never threw a fist and at most would make a small joke at the victim's expense. And yet, out here...He almost looked scarier than the rest of the bullies, as if he was finally letting out some sort of primal rage he had always kept inside.

And he was aiming a pistol at Flynt's head.

"Well boys," Cardin spoke up, stomping forward with his usual intimidating presence, "it's pretty clear Flynt here is a threat. Not just to us, but to who knows who else. Perhaps we should get rid of him, for _all_ our safety."

Russel and Sky chuckled a bit at this, as Flynt felt himself paling. Cardin continued to walk forward, staring down Flynt as he picked up the chainsaw on the ground, while Russel ran up to Flynt and swiped the machine gun that was lying nearby. Cardin smirked a little. "...But before we rush into anything, I'm a fair guy, and it's simply not my style to give you _no_ chance. So...I'll give you thirty seconds. Try and make the best of it."

Flynt quickly nodded at this, standing up from where he was laying rather pathetically, as Cardin snapped his fingers. In an instant, Flynt took off into the jungle, not bothering to look back as he screamed his head off.

The four waited in silence for a moment...Before Sky mumbled, "Are we really waiting the whole-"

"What?" Cardin interrupted, "Of course not!" He then screamed out, "It's game time, boys!"

Russel and Sky let out screams of excitement at this, racing into the forest after Flynt like wild dogs, laughing their asses off all the while. Dove narrowed his eyes a bit at this, though reluctantly began to follow beside Cardin, who was smiling to himself. This game was already leaning in their favor.

* * *

Cringing in pain, Neptune Vasilias (Male Student No. 19) mumbled out, "G-God dammit, dude, can't you be a bit more careful?"

"Sorry man, I'm not exactly used to this," Sun Wukong (Male Student No. 10) responded, patting a small cotton swab against his nose. It was smashed to all Hell, though it didn't seem to be as serious of damage as they'd thought. Probably would leave a nasty scar, but he was sure it wasn't _broke__n _at least. "Does it feel a little better?"

"Fuck no," Neptune grunted out, his words muffled slightly from the injury, "my face is burning up and my nose is _fucked_ man! Do you think any girls are gonna wanna date me after this game with a face like this?! I'll have to like...Go to a circus and become one of the freaks, and hit on the bearded lady if I wanted any pussy."

"Eh, she'd at least be a unique lay," Sun chuckled out, which Neptune responded to with a deadpan glare, "just saying, how many people can really say _'I fucked a lady with a beard bigger than my dad's'_?" This was at least enough to get a snicker out of his buddy, which to Sun was more than enough at the moment. Standing up from his spot, Sun helped Neptune up, before patting him on the shoulder, "You ready to get moving again?"

"Yeah, maybe…" Neptune muttered, picking up his trident soon after, "You sure this thing won't get like, an infection or something though, right?"

"Dude, I'm not a doctor, I ain't sure of anything," the jock casually said soon after, walking ahead and ignoring the look of unease on his companion's face.

Reluctantly, Neptune began to follow after, asking, "So, out of curiosity, if we encounter anyone else not part of the group, how are we gonna handle it?"

Sun gave his friend a look at this, saying, "Well, we take them with us. Don't know what else we'd do."

"Can we at least make sure they're not going mental?" Neptune added on with a groan, "I don't wanna get hit again-"

As he was saying this though, before he could react he felt something kick out his feet, sending him to the ground, where his back was promptly stepped on with one foot, while the other landed on his hand holding the trident, causing Neptune to scream out in pain. Instantly, Sun turned in reaction, only to pale slightly as a slick blade was placed up to his throat, holding him where he stood as his eyes widened.

In front of him, and currently on top of his best friend...Was Blake Belladonna (Female Student No. 20). He had grown to know the face well from watching her down the hall. She was always something of a foreign beauty to him, with that pale skin and those hazel, cat-like eyes...She had always reminded him of a cat somewhat. And yet he was thinking about that, and not the fact that at any instant she could tear his life away with a single slash. One second he'd be there, the next second, gone to the wind…

And yet this didn't phase him...He'd be lying if he said he was even scared. He didn't think she was gonna kill him.

So, staring at the girl in awe, Sun eventually formed a smile, "What's up, Belladonna?" And just like that, the cat was left as confused as Neptune, as both stared up at the tall blonde in shock.

* * *

Flynt Coal was in a world of pain; had been ever since he had taken off. He had been limping since the incident with Schnee, and this running was not doing him _any_ good. For fuck's sake, his leg felt like it was gonna fall off. Sure, it _wouldn't_, but that didn't mean it hurt any _less_. And the fact he had to worry about a bunch of psychos chasing him down only made him feel _worse_, and when you feel worse than having a gash the size of a baseball on the back of your leg, then that proves you're in some deep shit-

...Wait...The gash...The bleeding gash…

...**FUCK**!

He had been leaving a fucking trail. All those assholes had to do was-

As he thought this, a bang rang off nearby, as a bullet soured right past his head. Flynt didn't even need to look back, as he could already hear the clownish cackles of Sky Lark. Flynt just kept on running, as more and more bullets flew past his head, each one seemingly getting closer and closer. Any second one of those could nail him in the back of the head, and that'd be it, he'd be done, he'd be _dead!_

On instinct, Flynt ducked behind a nearby tree, which found itself then being peppered with bullets. He scrunched up into a ball, flinching as each bullet shredded the wood. That wasn't a handgun doing that. It was _his_ gun.

"Man, Coal, you got a fucking _banger_ of a weapon, bud!" A voice called out from the distance, almost certainly Russel Thrush. "All I got was a pair of weird-looking swords, but now I don't gotta worry about those!" Flynt cringed at the sound of the bully laughing.

After a moment, the bullets stopped coming, and just like that, Flynt took off running, ignoring the frustrated screams of Russel. He had forgotten that guns sorta needed _ammo_ to function...Somehow. Then again, intelligence wasn't exactly Russ' strong suit.

As he thought this, another bullet flew past his head, as Sky screamed, "You're screwed, Flynty! You're gonna get fucking bent!" His cackles only further unnerved Flynt, as he just kept running and running, desperately attempting to escape.

...Only to trip over himself in the process.

Flynt's eyes widened as his face smashed into the ground, the rest of his body following as he rolled across the grass. He grabbed onto his face in pain, pulling back his hands to see a small splash of blood on them. Oh fuck...He was bleeding even more...God, he was gonna pass out at this rate.

"Well, well, well, Flynty had a little tumble."

Before he could react, metal smashed into Flynt's cheek. Sky Lark chuckled holding the pistol in his hand, before whipping it across the boy's face again, this time sending him to the ground. "What a fucking baby, can't even handle a little smack!"

"Sky, stop fucking around," Russel groaned out nearby, pushing himself through the thick trees as he narrowed his eyes into a scowl, "just get it over with." He was still holding the machine gun in his hands, though it seemed the back at cracked slightly. Had probably smashed it against something in frustration earlier.

Sky narrowed his eyes into a frown at his friend's words, but nonetheless shook them away, and pointed the handgun at Flynt's head. Flynt shook in place for a moment, though found himself closing his eyes. At least...At least it'd be quick.

His thoughts were interrupted as a series of bullets erupted through the air, and Sky let out a scream of pain. Flynt's eyes shot open, and he almost had to do a double-take when he saw the handgun now on the ground, and that Sky's hand was bleeding...And his hand was shredded. If you looked in just the right way, you could see the bone on the inside. Sky's body shook for a moment, as he let out a strained, "F-Fuck! W-What the fuck?!"

"You two better get back. Next time I'll go for something vital."

All three couldn't help but freeze at the voice. It was deep and guttural, more comparable to a beast than a man. And when they looked back to find the voice, they weren't shocked to see their assumptions weren't inaccurate. The man was close to six feet tall, with dark skin and a muscular body, eyes as cold as steel and hair combed back to reveal a nasty scar going down his forehead. He was bull-necked, with a square jaw, and skin so rough it could be seen from there, almost as easily as the orange-tinted machine gun in his hands.

It was Nadir Shiko (Male Student No. 16). The scariest guy in class. One of the only kids in school _nobody_ messed with.

Least of all Russel Thrush and Sky Lark.

"O-Oh...H-Hey Nadir," Sky mumbled out, a false smile on his face, "h-how're y-you doing-"

"You have one minute," Nadir interrupted with a straight-faced look, "if you're not gone by then, I won't hesitate to open fire."

This seemed to be all Sky needed to hear, as he took off running, only stopping a moment to grab his pistol with his good hand, leaving a long, disgusting trail of blood and shredded skin behind as he ran off. Russel lingered for a moment, scowling at the two in front of him, before mumbling, "We'll be back, assholes," and then taking off into the jungle as well, calling out for Sky as he did so.

And there Flynt sat, still on the ground, laying in mud, his face battered and bruised and his leg still bleeding, no weapon or bag in sight...And he was next to a guy with a machine gun…

_He was going to die-_

"Hey," Flynt yelped at the voice, looking up to see Nadir staring down at him, screaming out like a drill sergeant, "get up, man, we need to get moving!" Flynt just continued to stare, confusion settling onto his expression. "Now!"

Shivering slightly, Flynt did as he was told and stood up, and reluctantly, he began to follow Nadir into the jungle.

* * *

Sky let out a screech as Dove pulled down on the bandage in his hand, as he continuously wrapped it around whatever was left of Sky's. "J-Jeez, Dove, you hafta' be so hard?!" Dove didn't respond to this, as he continued to wrap it.

Watching from nearby, Cardin stared at his men with narrowed eyes, shifting uncomfortably on a tree stump while the chainsaw laid in his lap, before turning to Russel, "So...Flynt got away, and now Nadir knows what our best weapons are?" The boy nodded without much thought, as his leader tapped his teeth together, "Yeah...That's not good. Nope, not good at all."

Russel, who was barely listening on account of his frequent kicking of Roy's corpse, most likely from boredom, eventually said, "I don't see the big deal. It's just Nadir. Dude only got into a couple fights and yet everyone treats him like he's hot shit or something."

"_You've_ never seen him in a fight," Cardin spat out, "dude's got skills. Flynt's one poor bastard now that he's stuck with him. What _he_ could do is so much worse than what we can."

* * *

Glancing out from behind a tree, Nadir Shiko scanned the immediate area before him with a bored glare. After a second, he grunted out some kind of signal to move, before walking forward. A few moments later, Flynt Coal walked out from his own tree, following after Nadir.

To say Flynt was scared would be an understatement. He and Nadir weren't friends, they didn't even really talk. The most they had ever conversed before this moment was one time in PE, where Nadir told Flynt his shoes were untied. And even _that_ was a scary encounter. Hell, Nadir, in general, was scary to be around. He was just so...Intense. It always felt like he was only moments away from grabbing you by the neck and snapping it in two, or at least that was the impression he had always given off. And compared to Roy, or the bullies, or even Flynt himself…

Nadir was handling this game remarkably well.

"Hey," Nadir muttered, coming to an abrupt stop, as Flynt almost smacked right into his back, "you have a weapon right?"

Flynt's face paled slightly, as he let out a strained breath, "Y-Yeah, I did...But those four took it, and my bag." Nadir hummed at this, and Flynt could feel his own heart stop. Oh God, had he only saved him because he thought he'd be useful?! Was he going to kill him-

_...Flynt...You need to calm down...Freaking out is what got Roy killed...Well, sort of._

Nadir continued to hum to himself, grazing his hand along his gun...Before saying, "...Do you have good aim?" Flynt didn't respond, which...Seemed to confuse Nadir. He stared at him...Before smiling, "Sorry, maybe I should have been a bit more clear," rather abruptly, he held out the gun, "do you want it?"

Flynt almost swallowed his tongue from the shere confusion he felt in that instant. It was as if everything he knew about the universe had just been flipped on its head. Grass grows, birds fly, and _Nadir Shiko doesn't smile!_

Despite this, Nadir continued to hold out the weapon, shaking it slightly, "Seriously, do you-" In a swift movement Flynt pulled the gun from his grasp and held it against himself, practically cradling it as if it was an infant. "Well, that answers my question." With a shrug, he began to walk forward, barely paying Flynt anymore mind.

However, all this did was make him more confused. "...Nadir...Why'd you save me?" This stopped the boy in his tracks. "You coulda let them kill me. Would have done you some good, having one less player out here." Flynt's hands shook slightly, as his grip tightened on the gun. "A-After all...O-Only one of us can win."

Many thoughts began to cross Flynt's mind as he stared at his classmate. He could kill him right here and now. Wouldn't even be on him; it was _his_ mistake to hand him the damn gun, what else was he expecting in a game like this. Would be pretty fast too. Hopefully a lot faster, and a lot cleaner than Roy. Just a few shots to the head and Nadir wouldn't even know what happened. After all...It's not like the second kill would be any worse than the first-

"I'm not playing, Flynt," Nadir said, his voice thick with anger and practically spewing vitriol. "And there doesn't _need_ to be only one survivor. Not if I have anything to say about it."

And just like that, Flynt stopped shaking, and instead just...Stared at his companion with a hollow look. "...What? How?"

This question seemed to make Nadir brighten, as he held his head up and said simply, "Cause if I have anything to say about it, I'm burning this game to the ground, along with all the people who dared to start it." He smiled a bit, "All I have to do is find the right people. The smart people; Ivori, Ciel, Dew...And then we can figure out how to topple this thing. Before anyone has to get hurt. Before anyone has to die."

That last part made Flynt flinch to himself, but only moments later, he could feel his mind beginning to unravel, and explore this thought. The ability to escape...To go home, without him having to hurt anyone else. Admittedly, he wasn't sure if he had been capable of winning the game on his own, with just a gun and his wits, but this...This could change everything…

Shining his trademark toothy smile, which was ruined slightly by his battered, bloody cheeks and broken teeth, he said, "You know...That's the best damn thing I've heard today." Holding out a hand, he added on, "You got yourself a partner, Nadir."

Returning the smile, Nadir took his hand with something resembling pure enthusiasm. "Great to hear it, bud. Now, let's get you healed up. I'll grab the bandages from my bag-"

"Wait," Flynt interrupted, pulling back his hand, "you have bandages?"

Nadir couldn't help but give him a look. "Well...Yeah. We all started out with them-" He noticed the pale, stupid expression on Flynt's face, as Nadir came to a realization...Before snickering, "You forgot didn't you." The grumble that came out in response confirmed this, as Nadir let out a laugh. It was a small one, but it was certainly a bit of a cleanser compared to what he had seen thus far.

As he reached into his bag and pulled out the bandages, Nadir smiled to himself. About his plan...About how it was coming together. He had Flynt, now he just needed to find the others, and then he could get his plans underway. This was gonna work...They'd all get out of this game, even if he had to sacrifice everything to make it happen.

* * *

**41 Students Left to Go.**


	8. Seekers

**Author's Note**

**Hour 04 (3:00 - 3:59 AM)**

**Danger Zones:** G7.

**Student(s) Remaining:** 41.

* * *

Ever since she had exited the school, Pyrrha Nikos (Female Student No. 11) had made sure to avoid interacting with her classmates as much as possible. She wasn't taking the chance that they could potentially be playing, and considering who was in her class, there was little doubt in her mind that some would relish the chance to get some payback on someone who "wronged them", or perhaps even just act out some of their sadistic fantasies. Whatever the reason she knew their types, and if she was gonna speak to someone in this game, it was going to be on her terms.

If they were a threat, either hide or run. If they weren't, see what they know and leave soon after, perhaps disarming them if needed. Simple.

She was coming into this game with two advantages. The first was her weapon; a kevlar vest. With it, most weapons were at least nullified...Of course, that was assuming they hit her body and not her head, but she wouldn't let that happen. And the other advantage was a simple one; her role as class president had given her quite the insight into most of her classmates and the way they worked. She knew what they'd all be doing.

Cardin Winchester (Male Student No. 11) and his little crew of bullies would likely join up right outside the school, probably wait until they heard something then reap the rewards like the cowards they were. Cinder Fall (Female Student No. 17) would take control momentarily with her own gang and likely just kill everything in her path with reckless abandon. The girl posse would search for shelter, Coco Adel (Female Student No. 15) would probably treat this game no differently than an excuse to hang out with friends, and some of her other classmates would, and likely already have cracked.

She also knew well that her best friend, Jaune Arc (Male Student No. 3), would be defending people loudly and stupidly instead of taking cover and staying safe...

Pyrrha simply knew her classmates too well, so it wasn't a surprise to her when she heard some sounds coming from a small, wooden house. It was a pretty nice looking place; two stories tall, sturdy structure, a nice well outside, and a barn next to it that probably had supplies. It'd be a good place to camp out, which two of her classmates had clearly already realized.

...Too bad they were also doing something else if their moans were anything to go by.

With a shiver, she nonetheless walked into the house. As she looked around, she wasn't too shocked by the furniture inside, as it was all pretty typical. A couch, a television that most definitely didn't work, a downstairs bedroom, a bathroom, the obvious stuff. The upstairs likely held similar items. With a low sigh, she began to ascend the stairs, and she couldn't help but grow a little more anxious with each passing moment as the moans got louder and louder. It was...Disturbing to say the least...They were _really_ going at it.

As she got to the top, she placed her head against the wall and seemingly heard them...Well, "finish" so to speak. With a shake of her head, she slowly called out, "Um...Hello-"

"O-Oh fuck," a squeaky though definitely male voice screamed, before she heard an abrupt thud. He probably fell off the bed they had been on. Yeah, they definitely weren't a threat.

Walking forward, she reluctantly opened up the door with an embarrassed look, and was greeted by something a little unexpected. Pointing a small, yellow stun gun at her was the scrawny, sorta pathetic looking Nolan Porfirio (Male Student No. 18), his arm shaking from stress and his eyes wide. He didn't have a shirt on, and it seemed both his underwear and pants had been pulled up hastily. Meanwhile, laying in the bed with the bed covers still over her was May Zedong (Female Student No. 10). She was still in a daze from the little event...Or she was just high. Considering the horrid smell it could probably be both.

"W-What're you doing here," Nolan barked out in worry.

Pyrrha stared him down in silence, eyeing him up. He'd likely fling his arm forward in an attempt to attack, which would leave him open. She could disarm him, then turn the tables if needed-

"Hey Nolan," a voice mumbled, catching both their attention. Rising from the bed, May groaned out, "can you quiet down, everything is loud as Hell-" Her voice dragged slightly upon spotting Pyrrha...Before smiling, "Oh hey, what's up?" Pyrrha didn't respond with anything more than a blink, as she chuckled, "I'd ask why you're here, but admittedly I'm a bit of a screamer. My bad."

And after that line, neither Nolan nor Pyrrha truly knew how to respond. But after a moment, the latter forced a smile, "So...How about I give you two time to...Clean up, then we can work this out?" Nolan's paled expression and a swift nod of the head was all Pyrrha needed to bolt out of that room as fast as possible, her face having become as red as her hair.

* * *

Resting against a tree, Yang Xiao Long (Female Student No. 4) couldn't help but almost drift off into rest, though shook the feeling away. Damn rain, why do you have to be so relaxing? With a groan, she sat up from where she had been hiding. It had been a bit since she had encountered the girls, so it was probably fine to start moving again.

She looked around her area, and she couldn't lie that it had been good cover. The leaves above were thick and strewn together, acting as a sort of artificial roof from the elements, and the grass was tall, allowing her an easy way of hiding from anyone trying to track her. If it weren't for her mission, she'd almost want to just stay here and wait this game out as long as she could. But she knew she couldn't do that. Not while her sister was still out there-

"_Get back here you damn fucking snake!"_

And just like that Yang threw herself to the ground, camouflaging herself among the mud and tall grass, as she stared out at the jungle in the distance. Soon, two figures ran into her sightline, running straight toward her. One was a tall and thin boy, though nonetheless had quite the muscular physique, along with a mop of black hair. The other was the opposite, being short though stout, with muscles so large they'd make heavyweight boxers jealous.

It was Bolin Hori (Male Student No. 6) and Brawnz Ni (Male Student No. 21), and based on the tone of voice...Brawnz was _pissed_.

Letting out a roar comparable to a bear, Brawnz swung one of his fists forward, attempting to smack it against the wiry boy's head, though the blow was easily dodged as Bolin rolled off to the side. Honestly, the winner of this "fight" had already been decided. Sure, Brawnz was tough, probably a lot tougher than most gave him credit for, but he was _no_ Bolin.

Bolin was one of the terrible trio. The three amigos of death. The power trio. The...Two guys and girl? ...Whatever, the point was that right there alongside resident badasses Arslan Altan (Female Student No. 5) and Nadir Shiko (Male Student No. 16), Bolin would be nearby, watching the rest of his class with that typical confident smirk. Unlike the other two, he actually talked to people. He had friends outside of their circle. He was a bit more than his label. But he was also a little thief, always running around stealing whatever he could get his hands on.

It's almost nostalgic to see him still doing it out here.

Avoiding another fist, Bolin smirked at his attack, letting out a chuckle, "Man, this is just disappointing. And to think, you place yourself on _such_ a high pedestal, Brawnz, and yet you can't even stop me from stealing your water." He avoided a flurry of punches from the boy, jumping back and landing next to a tree...The one Yang had been lying against...And was now in front of. "What, that strike a nerve, Brawnz- what the?"

Shit, shit, shit, _shit, shit, shit, __**shit!**_

On instinct, Yang jumped up from her hiding place with her shotgun in hand, taking a few steps back as she aimed it at Bolin's head, and then twisted it toward Brawnz. "Don't move!"

Bolin didn't even react much to this outside of mild confusion, though Brawnz pretty quickly got the message, throwing his hands up in fear. "Y-Yo, what's the big idea?! I ain't done nothing to 'ya, blondie!" His voice had always reminded her of one of those nineties greasers...It was kind of annoying.

Taking a few steps back, Yang kept her gun steady, as she continued to step back...Before breaking into a sprint and running away as _fast _as possible. Whatever was happening between those two was _nothing_ she wanted to get involved with, especially not when Bolin was obviously up to his old tricks again.

She didn't know what'd happen after that. Maybe one of them would chase after her. Maybe they'd just start fighting again. Maybe they'd even _team up_ to try and kill her just so one of them could have a gun. It didn't matter, and she didn't care. All that mattered was that she got out of there.

Somehow Yang had a feeling she'd be doing quite a bit of cardio in this game.

* * *

Opening up a thermos canister in the kitchen, May poured out her coffee into three different coffee mugs. She'd never admit it but she was a _bit_ of an addict to the stuff and brought it with her everywhere she went. She doubted anyone could blame her though; coffee was fucking good man, especially on a cold, chilly night like this where it's raining endlessly. Certainly helps she had Nolan here to cozy up to and relax with on the couch. May didn't really _know_ how she'd be handling this situation without him, and really didn't _want_ to know. It was just a scary thought...One she wouldn't have to worry about luckily.

With a shake of her head, she brought the coffee into the living room, handing out the mugs and taking a seat next to her boyfriend, as they stared down none other than Pyrrha freaking Nikos. She had never thought they'd be hanging out, but this game does weird shit. "So...Sup?"

Pyrrha didn't know how to really respond to this, as Nolan wrapped an arm around May. "Yeah...How are you holding up with...All this going on?"

Looking off to the side and scratching at her shirt, which kept her vest out of sight, Pyrrha mumbled, "I'm managing," she turned back to the couple with a soft smile, "how about you two? I can see you've found yourself quite the shelter."

"Yeah, and it's a lot cozier than we were expecting too," Nolan confirmed, giving her a soft look, "we're thinking about just sorta...Hiding out for the rest of the game. We don't really have it in us to...You know."

"You can feel free to join us if you want," May added on, before blowing some stray hair out of her face.

Pyrrha could only stare at them in response for a moment, before sitting up from her chair and muttering, "While I appreciate the warm welcome, I have no intentions of staying. I was simply wondering if you've seen someone pass by here." The couple exchanged a look, before Pyrrha continued, "I'm looking for Jaune Arc."

"Sorry, I haven't seen him," Nolan confirmed, turning to his girlfriend, who gave a half-hearted shrug of indifference.

"Well...That's disappointing," the redhead mumbled, a frown quickly overtaking her face, "I'll be off now-"

"Wait," Nolan interrupted once more, standing up from the couch and saying, "you don't have a weapon, right? Like...A real one?" Pyrrha didn't give a proper response to this, though Nolan still reached toward a nearby table and grabbed onto his stun gun, before holding it out for her, "To be honest I probably won't get much use out of this thing just laying here, so...You can take it if you want."

Pyrrha took a step back, holding up a hand, "N-No, no, I'm fine, you really don't-" He jiggled the stun gun in his hand, giving her a smile as he pushed it out further. After a moment of reluctance, Pyrrha grabbed a hold of the weapon, as she stared at it in silence, a little bit of hope sparking in her once more. "Thank you, Nolan."

"Eh, it's no problem. Now get out of here, I bet that guy's looking for you too," Nolan responded, before walking back over to the couch and taking a seat.

"Good luck," May chirped out soon after, pulling down her beanie and once more resting against her boyfriend.

Pyrrha gave the two one last smile, before just as quickly walking back out into the storm. She now had protection, a weapon, and two possible allies for later in the game, if they make it that far of course. Now...All she needed to do was find Jaune Arc (Male Student No. 3), wherever he is out there.

* * *

Jaune Arc had to admit...He felt pretty lucky.

Sure, he was in a game where he was fighting most of the people he had known in his life to the death. Sure, he didn't really have a weapon of any kind. Sure, by the next day he'd probably see more blood splattered across this island then most doctors see in their entire lives. But besides that, things had been going his way for the most part. He had gotten out into the game only five minutes after the start, met up with his crush, Weiss Schnee (Female Student No. 2) only a few minutes after that, and even got to _save_ her life as her white knight, and now he had one of his best friends here with them.

Ruby Rose (Female Student No. 3)...Yeah, she was a bit of an oddball outside the game. Usually running her mouth, talking about obscure weapons and events in history, all that sorta stuff that Jaune admittedly didn't know much about. But...Oddly enough, she...Hadn't seemed to change at all in the game. She wasn't scared, or panicked, or anxious, or anything. She was just her usual, absurdly jolly self as if she didn't even know what was going on. Sure it was nice to see but nonetheless was pretty shocking.

And right now...She seemed to be in heaven.

"_Weiss,_ this thing is so _cool!"_ Ruby cooed out, as she swiped her rapier through the air with the biggest grin on her face, looking it over as she giggled out happily, "One hundred and four centimeters of two different types of steel, divided up into five separate parts, and a hilt made up of such complexity that it's physically _incapable_ of reproduction in the modern day!" Squeaking out a sort of squee, she turned to her friend with a look that mixed both raw excitement and unbridled jealousy, "Weiss how is this _not_ cool to you?! This sort of stuff is _legendary!"_

"Yes, yes, it's amazing, now can I please have my weapon back?" Weiss grumbled out with a scoff, her eyes narrowed playfully at the girl.

"What?! No way, can't you give me a few more minutes?" Ruby whined out, almost sounding like a child, causing Jaune to let out a chuckle at the two's banter. It was a nice change of pace.

They continued to bicker between themselves as Jaune walked a bit ahead, pushing an abnormally large lead out of the way, as he stared out into the distance of the jungle from the higher ground. While the storm made it a bit hard to see, he could make out a sort of light; a small town, only about a mile or two away. If they kept walking they could be there in an hour or two, accounting for breaks and the steep jungle, of course, then they could maybe rest and come up with a plan.

With a small grin, he turned back toward the two girls, "Hey, I found where we're heading, you ready to go?"

Blinking at this, Ruby's face lit up once more, gently handing Weiss her weapon, before picking her own up off the ground; a large, intimidating scythe. She then gave Jaune a mock salute, "Yep!" Weiss scoffed in response, which if he had to guess meant she was ready too.

With a smile, Jaune turned back toward the light, and without another word, the three began to walk toward the town.

* * *

Staring out over the horizon at the town in the far distance, Mercury Black (Male Student No. 5) couldn't help but feel a smile grow across his face. He hated the rain. Sure, he hated most things, but rain especially could kiss his ass, and seeing the possibility of shelter certainly brightened this shitty day a bit.

Admittedly he was better off than he'd been expecting. For a weapon, he had been given brass knuckles. Sure they weren't much in a gunfight, but if he got up close he could knock someone's teeth out with these things. And besides, he didn't need to worry about it, as they had allowed the kids to keep the crap in their backpacks after all. Mercury had a reputation for bringing some pretty metal shit to school, and he certainly kept up that reputation with what he brought for the field trip. A few boxes of cigarettes, a lighter, a butterfly knife…

A Ruger revolver.

Yeah, he brought guns to school. Never planned to shoot the thing up of course, he just thought the idea of having it on him never hurt. He'd usually keep the thing tucked away in his boot or backpack, and occasionally if some freshman was giving him lip, he'd pull it out and threaten them after school. Give 'em a good scare and make sure they didn't bug him again. He was pretty good at that sorta thing, which was probably why Cinder Fall (Female Student No. 17) had recruited him into her little clique.

If there was one bitch Mercury respected on this crapsack of an island, it was Cinder. Not because he liked her, cause frankly, he thought she was a cunt. Nah, it's cause she didn't take shit from anybody, and he respected that sorta thing.

What he didn't respect was how fucking loud she was.

Just then, a bullet smashed into a nearby tree, tearing through it and flying out the other side. In the middle of a small patch of grass, who else but Cinder Fall stood, a Smith & Wesson Model 10 revolver in her hand, as she let out a disturbing little chuckle. "Why, Emerald, you got quite the equipment from those soldiers. Certainly much better than yours, right Mercury?"

Mercury couldn't help but roll his eyes in response, as he pulled out a cigarette and began to light it, "Yep," he nonchalantly stated. He wasn't dealing with her shit right now.

Meanwhile, standing nearby, staring at Cinder like the lap dog she was, was the dragon of Beacon High; Emerald Sustrai (Female Student No. 16). She was Cinder's right-hand woman...AKA her bitch. Did whatever she wanted whenever she wanted it, never questioned a damn thing she said, and practically didn't do anything until Cinder said so. Mercury and her had never gotten along super well, but he tolerated her, at least when she doesn't give a gun to a fucking lunatic.

Cinder hadn't gotten much weapon-wise; a bow with twelve tipped arrows. He had no doubt someone on the island could probably make use of that shit, but it certainly wasn't any of them. So of course, the second Cinder asked, she got Emerald's weapon, which was considerably more deadly...Somehow he had a feeling she'd end up shooting one of them before she ever got a chance to nail one of their actual targets.

As soon as they had grouped up they had made a sort of "hit list", AKA the fuckers they wanted dead. Cinder had made it clear she wanted to take out Ruby Rose and Pyrrha Nikos, cause she was a spiteful cunt who hated how perky they were or some shit like that. Emerald hadn't added anyone personally, and Mercury...Well, he wanted to take down Yang Xiao Long and Arslan Altan, and he wasn't telling them why. After that they just added the obvious ones; Cardin Winchester and his crew, Bolin Hori, Nadir Shiko, Lie Ren (Male Student No. 12), Dew Gayl (Female Student No. 1), Sage Ayana (Male Student No. 8), Yatsuhashi Daichi (Male Student No. 4), basically the ones they knew could probably win this game.

They were hunting those fuckers down like the prey they were...For now at least. He kinda doubted this alliance was anything permanent. Maybe in a day or two he'd book it and make it on his own. He simply didn't trust Cinder enough to think she wouldn't do the same, and at the same time probably take a couple of crack shots at him. Not that he thought he couldn't handle her, he just ain't taking chances when there's a gun involved.

"So Mercury," Cinder soon said, taking a moment to reload the revolver, as she looked toward him with her signature grin, "see anything worth checking out?"

"A town's up ahead. A couple of miles, so we should be there before morning hits maybe," Mercury confirmed, "may even be some folks there already. Could thin the litter real early if we're quick about it."

The last part seemed to make Cinder excited, as she let out a giggle and held her gun up, "Sounds like a plan."

As she said this, the same thought ran through Mercury's head; Cinder Fall...What a stone-cold bitch.

* * *

**41 Students Left to Go.**


End file.
